The Tale of Three
by Jknotdeadlol
Summary: 15 years after the apocalypse befell the merged dimension of Earthni, Meteora and Mariposa must continue finding a way to get back to their families, with help from their foster parent and former leader of the E.D.F, Jenkins.
1. Chapter 1: 15 years later (rewritten)

A/N: A bit of background on the story.

Takes place 15 years after the events of "cleaved"

The world is a nuclear wasteland.

It will follow mostly three characters, Mariposa, Meteora, and an OC, Jenkins.

Set in A/U where an "E.D.F. or Earth defense force" existed.

Other things will be revealed as the story goes along.

2nd A/N: I just rewrote the first chapter, I felt like it could have used more. I hope I made it better than before, and not worse.

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 1**

**Fifteen years later**

There it was. She finally saw it. After tracking it for who knows how many hours. She had followed it up mountains, through countless deserted ruins, and now, she finally had it in her sights.

It was a simple lizard. It was no larger than 3 feet, but nowadays, things like that were more precious than anything else in the entire world. Well, what was left of the world.

But, she had no time to dwell on the world. She grabbed her knife. This had to be perfect. If she missed the throw, then it was all over. The countless hours of tracking and constant exhaustion would have been for nothing. They didn't have much food left, besides a few expired protein bars. Those would last them no more than a day or two. So there were no second chances. There were never any second chances. Especially not now.

She steadied her arm and concentrated...and… threw it with every bit of force that she had. It flew through the air, almost in slow motion, as if time seemed to slow down in that single moment.

Luckily, it hit its mark. Meteora breathed a sigh of relief. All the throwing lessons that she had learned had paid off. And in the best possible way too.

She went over to get the creature. It was still alive, but just barely. She grabbed the knife, pulled it out and shook the blood off of it. She then grabbed the lizard by the tail and started walking back to the camp. It suffered the whole way there, still twitching. She didn't put it out of its suffering though, killing it too early might spoil it. She didn't feel much regret though. But she wasn't sure if that was because she simply didn't have empathy for it, or simply because she was forcing herself to.

And she didn't really want to find out.

When she got back to the camp, only Mariposa was there, throwing rocks at nothing out of boredom. Not uncommon. At random times, Jenkins just left at completely random intervals to do his own thing.

Mariposa looked up and saw Meteora and smiled. "You're finally back. And you got that lizard. Nice Job."

Meteora replied back to her. "Thanks, but there definitely aren't anymore in this area. And if there are, then they're incredibly well hidden. So we're probably gonna have to leave soon. And I think Jenkins wants to keep moving anyway."

Mariposa sighed. " Ugh. You know, we just got to this place a few days ago. I wish we could stay here at least a little longer."

"No you don't. You're bored out of your mind and you know it.'

"Yup. I am. Anyways, do you know where Jenkins is? I saw him leave a while ago. I assumed he was out hunting that lizard. After your numerous failed attempts." She pointed at the now expired lizard that Meteora was holding.

"No. He's not looking for this. I passed him. He said he was just going through some ruins that he saw. Looking for anything useful, I guess."

Mariposa rolled her eyes. "I doubt he's gonna find anything at all. Much less anything useful. The last time we found something in any ruins was when you found that knife. And that was weeks ago. How ruined cities have we been through since then? How many towns? At this rate our only hope will be finding someone else, but the odds are usually against us when it comes to other people. They either attack us for our food, or want nothing to do with us. Seriously, how we managed to survive this long confounds me. Remember that time we had no water for 9 days? How did we even make it through that? I don't think that's humanly possible."

"I'm...not a human." Meteora said.

"But you get my point though, right? Or that time Jenkins was so weak he couldn't walk, yet we still somehow managed to carry him 50 miles to that so called safe zone, which was then destroyed by a bunch of Septarians a day later, and we barely escaped with our lives. We have the power of luck on our side! That's the only explanation I can come up with!"

Meteora interrupted her. "Okay, I get it, we shouldn't be alive. But that doesn't mean we've gotten out of every situation so easily. All of us nearly died when we were attacked by that group of scavengers."

Mariposa stared at her. "You're gonna have to be a little more specific."

"The one where I got scars from?"

"...Still gonna have to be a little more specific."

Meteora sighed. "Nevermind. But we shouldn't act like we have the power of luck on our side and expect to get out of every problem that comes our way."

They heard a voice behind them. "She's right you know. Out here, we can only depend on each other." They both turned. It was Jenkins. Same black coat. Same weird hand tattoo. Same expression that looked like he was constantly annoyed. He had a bag in one hand and tossed it on the ground.

He spoke. "Alright, I got good news, and I have bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Mariposa looked at the bag. Maybe he had found something. "Give us the good news first."

"Alright. Good news is that I found a pillow." The pair looked at him, expecting more. "That's it." He said.

Mariposa frowned. "Please tell me you have more good news."

Jenkins laughed, which was a rare occurrence. "Seriously? You know we have to take what we can get, even if it isn't that much. However, the bad news is, everything that way is blocked off by a mountain range, and the only way up the mountain is a sheer cliff." He pointed in the direction that he came from. "So we're gonna have to find a way around it. And if my knowledge of this area is still correct, the only way that is still accessible is through the territory of the BL's."

Meteora was confused. "The BL's? Who are they?"

Jenkins gave her a slightly disappointed look. These two forgot things so easily. He had told them this yesterday. "It's short for the Black priests. A bunch of magic wannabes that are convinced that some dark magic survived the apocalypse. Led by some crazy lady, don't know who she is. But they shouldn't be too dangerous. All they will really do is attempt to convert us to their little cult. If we stay hidden and don't make any sound, then we should be fine."

Meteora struggled to remember the last time they came upon an organized group of survivors. It didn't go well for anybody, as they lost most of their food, and Jenkins was heavily injured. And there were only 5 of them that time. If these "Black priests" turned hostile, they might not make it out alive. Who knew how many of them there were.

Jenkins looked at the lizard that Meteora caught. "Hm. Nice job. Finally got the little bastard, didn't you? Well I'm starving and I'm sure you guys are too. Mariposa, if you start a fire, you can get the first pickings."

A few minutes later a fire had been started, and the sky was beginning to darken.

Jenkins was confused. "What? It's night already?" He looked at his watch and growled. "Great. Watch has stopped. I don't have any idea how to fix it." He opened his bag and threw the watch in it. He paused, then rummaged around in the bag, grabbed the pillow he had found earlier, then threw it at Meteora, who caught it. "Alright Meteora, since you killed that lizard, you get first dibs on that pillow. Tomorrow Mariposa will get it, and then you again. Don't say anything about me getting it, I've moved beyond having somewhere comfortable to sleep. But then again, we're all basically used to that, aren't we?"

Meteora made a "tch" sound and grabbed the lizard, put it the knife and started slowly roasting it. A long silence occurred in which they all just stared at it.

Jenkins looked at them. For the hundredth time in a thousand days, he reflected in what brought him to this point. His service. The offer of a "top secret agency" dealing with "Magical threats." His rise up the ranks. His leadership. Then meeting her. That annoying butterfly. Which resulted in a story that could fill up fifty books. Then the merge. Then Seth. Then the end and somehow taking possession of the two sitting next to him. Then 15 years of surviving a world that was mostly desert and death. Then he just got deeper into his thoughts, and became oblivious of all surroundings.

Mariposa attempted to talk to him. "Hey Jenkins. Jenkins?" She snapped her fingers in front of his face, to no response.

Meteora laughed. "Don't bother Mari, he's reflecting on his past again. That should only take a few years." She laughed. "I don't blame him though. He probably has a lot to think about. As do we." She looked towards the sky. She got a sad, depressed look on her face. Mariposa knew that look. She braced herself for the question Meteora was about to ask. "Hey, do you think we will ever find our parents again?"

Mariposa looked at the ground. "Jenkins promised to us that he would find them one day and that we would be there. He's never not delivered on a promise before, so yes, I think we will find them.

Meteora spoke, but fast and frantically. "I know. But what if's it too late? What if they're dead? What will we do if Jenkins dies? Only he really knows where we're going! And what if we get attacked and we-"

Mariposa grabbed Meteora by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. Meteora occasionally had fits like this. They were not fun to witness and Mariposa liked to stop them as soon as she could. "Listen. Don't think about that. Don't think about what might happen. Think about what is happening. That is what's important. Nothing else."

Meteora leaned forward and hugged her. "Okay. Can you promise me that you'll always stick with me, no matter what?"

Mariposa hugged her back. She had already promised her that several times before, but another time couldn't hurt. "I promise."

They let go of each other. "Anyways.." Meteora said. "I think that lizard should be done." She took it out of the fire and tore off a piece.

"Hey." Mariposa day. "Jenkins said I get first pickings."

Meteora smiled. "Well, I caught the thing."

"Yeah, but I started the fire!"

They continued squabbling like this for a while until Jenkins snapped back to reality. He had made his decision. But were they ready? How would they react? What would they want to do next?

Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out.

He really wasn't looking forward to this.

**End chapter 1.**

**A/N: First chapter to this story. I hope it was a good starting point. Thank you for reading the first chapter and please PM or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	2. (Rewritten) 2: The way the world ended

**A/N: Just like with the first one, I rewrote this chapter a bit, added a few things. And also just like the first one, I hope I made it better, not worse.**

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 2**

**The Way the World ended**

The sky had finally turned completely dark, with the only thing that was still emitted light being the various moons above them and the fire, crackling and popping as the wood burned. Meteora grabbed the roasted remains of the lizard and put it in their food bag, sighing upon realizing that it was dangerously empty. She brushed the thought off and closed the bag. "Well," she said to the others. "I'm going to sleep, nothing left to do right now anyway."

Mariposa nodded. "Yeah, good idea. I'm pretty tired anyways. Hey, Jenkins, we're going to bed. Jenkins?" But he didn't even look at them, he stared into the flames, his eyes locked onto them like a person looking at a ghost. But this unblinking stare of his was rather common so neither Meteora or Mariposa really cared. Staring at things and sometimes ignoring them could hardly be considered odd behavior for him. Shrugging, they both went to settle down for the night and soon found themselves arguing over the pillow Jenkins had found.

While they were busy doing this, Jenkins came back to reality after blinking a few times, took a deep breath, and mentally prepared himself. He hoped they were ready. He sensed that they weren't, but he felt that now was the best time to tell them. Better late than never. He glanced at them both and spoke up. "Hey you two." He said, resulting in them both stopping their bickering and looking at him."Did I ever tell you two the real story of how this all happened?"

Both of them stared at him with a surprised expression. Was...this it? Was he seriously going to tell them? Although Jenkins had told them endless stories about their families, what the past was like, and vivid descriptions of each and every person he knew, he rarely talked about how and why Earthni became the way it is. Not specifically, at least. He claimed it was because he felt like he had failed, as his job before this was protecting the Earth from any threats they would cause something like this, and Jenkins usually didn't talk about failure. Especially when it concerned himself. Probably because he needed them to have a sense of hope, which seemed to be even lower than their food supplies.

"Um...no." Meteora said, turning towards him.

I don't believe you really have. Are you gonna tell us?"

Jenkins sighed. "Yes. Sit down, unless you got something better to do. Because I don't."

Both of them sat down immediately and got ready to listen. They had long been waiting for this moment, the truth of what happened and who or what was responsible for it all. For some reason, they also felt extremely nervous, a small part of them believing that they weren't ready to hear this.

Jenkins started off by asking them a question. "What do you two think was the first reaction I had after the merge?"

Mariposa thought about this for a moment, and then answered confidently. "I'm going to guess you were mad."

Jenkins made a face as the memories of anger came swarming back. "That's an understatement. I was nothing short of absolutely livid. Earth merging with another dimension was the literal epitome of situations I had worked my whole life to avoid. Well, that or the whole planet being destroyed. But anyways, I couldn't even think straight. The first thing I did was punch a hole in my office wall. Literally. That's the first thing I did after I heard the news."

Meteora chuckled at this. "I can believe that. But I would also say that you were overreacting a bit. The world didn't end on the first day. You said a couple of months ago that the world ended _years _after the merge. What's the worst that could have happened at first?"

Jenkins tapped his fingers against his knee, preparing to give them a hell of an answer."Well, let's see. At least 20 billion dollars in damage to cities and towns, resulting in some of the smaller ones going bankrupt, an estimated 200 deaths and 3000 injuries, hundreds of millions intensely scared people, and a military response of 5,000 men that went straight to Echo creek because the world's government first response to this was stupid and rash! In short, it was not a good day for anyone. Well, except maybe the two that caused it. They were perfectly fine

Meteora shrunk where she sat, not expecting it to be that severe. "Okay, yeah, that was pretty bad. I'll admit, I was wrong. But what happened long term?"

"Well, after the soldiers had basically arrested everyone, and I do mean _everyone, _Moon and Queen Eclipsa were brought before all the world leaders and spent who knows how many hours explaining to them their history and their plan for coexistence. I wasn't at the meeting, as I was still busy punching holes in walls, so I don't know what the exact reaction was. But I do know that eventually the majority of countries agreed to their little plan, albeit begrudgingly. Whole thing was a nasty affair. But for some reason, Mewni wasn't put into one small area. It was spread across the entire damn world, which meant that every country, every neighborhood, every single acre of Earth got a little bit of it. Echo creek was just the capital. It was chaos, plain and simple."

"Yeesh…" Mariposa, imagining all these things happening. "Sounds like a total mess."

Jenkins nodded. "It was. And everybody adjusted rather slowly, but thankfully managed to get along after a period of a few months or so. The Mewnian leaders became world leaders of their own, Mewmans and monsters were introduced to technology, and humans were taught all about the history of Mewni and magic and monsters, even if one of those things didn't exist anymore."

Mariposa straightened herself up and asked him a question. "So, if everything was okay at first, what eventually went wrong? What happened? What caused all of…" She waved a hand at the surrounding landscape. "This?"

Jenkins suddenly got a thousand-yard stare, remembering things that he would much rather have forgotten. But he couldn't stop now. He was already too far in. "Well, aside from the fact that it killed millions of magical beings, destroying the magic also had an unforeseen consequence. Remember that Rhombulus guy I once told you about? With all his crystal prisoners?"

Both of them nodded.

"Well, with Rhombulus dead and the magic gone, all those prisoners were released. Including one of Mewni's oldest enemies and the true person that caused this whole mess in the first place: Seth of Septaris. King of the Septarians and one of the reasons monsters and Mewmans were not on very good terms before Star and Eclipsa fixed that whole situation."

Meteora frowned. Had she heard that name before? It felt slightly familiar, despite the fact that Jenkins had never mentioned this "Seth" before now. Then again, Jenkins had told her she was really 300 years old, but got turned into a baby. She didn't really believe any of that, but if it was true, maybe she had met him whoever Seth was during that time. Perhaps-

"This guy was quite possibly the most hateful person to ever exist." Jenkins continued, ending her train of thought. "Seth's goal before he was imprisoned was to destroy all Mewmans and take back Mewni for the monsters. I mean, when it comes to Septarians, that's nothing new, but Seth hated Mewmans with a _passion_. It was almost impressive just how much hate one person could have. Anyways, his goal hadn't changed once he was released. If anything, it just made him more angry. Now nobody, not even me, knows exactly how he did this, but he managed to get to the now renamed Earthni and there he found his most hated enemies, standing right in front of him. I believe his first reaction was to attack some random people on sight. Me and the E.D.F. managed to capture him, but only after he had killed ten of our guys. God, he was an evil bastard."

He sighed and made a face of pure regret. Both Meteora and Mariposa knew what was coming. He was going to make a comment on how he should have been able to save them, how it was his fault. It was understandable. It was his job as leader to take care of the ones under his command, and to feel responsible for anything that happened to them was a natural response. But the two of them needed Jenkins to not lose hope in anything, just as he helped them not lose hope. It was the only way any of them could move forward. Hope was a rare thing, especially now.

Surprisingly though, Jenkins didn't say anything about that. He simply cleared his throat and continued with his story. Both Meteora and Mariposa exchanged glances, confused by this out of character move on his part. This story was probably affecting him more than them.

"So, Seth was in our custody." He said. "We interrogated him for hours on end, which of course led to nothing. Although he deserved to die for his crimes, we couldn't really kill him, as he was too valuable to kill. So we simply threw him in a hole and left him there. And by hole, I meant the most highly sophisticated and guarded prison ever made. I believe only three other prisoners were ever held there. But then…"

Jenkins paused, and Mariposa spoke up. "Let me guess, he escaped."

"Correct." Jenkins said, pointing his finger at her. "And unlike with how he got to Earthni, we have a bit of an idea of how he escaped. He had help. Something attacked the prison, and basically demolished it. The one survivor from the attack said that a monster the size of skyscraper destroyed the prison. I'm still not sure if that's the truth, since no monster we knew of was that tall and we found no real evidence of a giant monster other than a destroyed prison. No footprints, no residue, nothing. Plus, the only guard who lived suffered numerous brain injuries, so it's likely his memory was screwed up. But in the end, the prison was gone, Seth had escaped, and by the time the E.D.F's full military force arrived, Seth and the other prisoners were all gone."

Jenkins waited for them to say something, but they remained silent, waiting for him to finish. He found it odd that they weren't saying anything. Now was usually the time in Jenkins stories where they interrupted to ask a question or make a statement. But they stayed silent. Out of respect perhaps? Or maybe they were thinking about his story. It was already a lot to take in.

Seeing no reaction, he resumed. "So, Seth escaped and went completely off the grid. We searched for months and nothing came up. I'll say this of the guy, he had amazing skills when it came to disappearing. If it had been anyone else, we would have found them. But Seth Just vanished off the face of Earthni. But eventually...he reappeared, and it was the last time saw him. Last time anybody saw him in fact. I wasn't there when it happened, when it all went down, as I was busy in Echo creek at some party that your family threw." He looked at Mariposa, whose eyes darted from side to side, unsure of what to make of this.

"Normally I don't do parties, but they insisted and I went." Jenkins said, annoyance on the she of his voice. "Seth must have known that I was gone, because during this, he attacked the E.D.F. Headquarters with an army of Septarians. But they all looked exactly like him. Apparently he had cloned himself thousands of times and took over the base. After his army appeared out of nowhere. But all this is just what I heard. The events of the whole attack was given to me by phone, so it got a little foggy at one point. I was going to leave but it happened so fast that they were only able to give me a few bits of information. The last thing I heard from my guys is that the base had been completely taken over."

Jenkins paused and swallowed nervously.

The next part would be the worst. He decided he would start off by asking them another question. Seemed to have worked the first time. "Why do you think he attacked that base?"

Both of them thought about this for a second and Meteora quickly answered. "There was something there that he wanted?"

"Good. The headquarters of the most powerful and rich organization on Earthni at the time, what do you think it had access to?"

"Everything?"

"Exactly. Everything. Bank accounts. Stocks. Classified information. And most importantly, every single armed nuclear device on Earthni. Every. Last. One."

They both shifted where they sat. Jenkins had told them tales of the weapons of the old world, both magic and non-magic. They could see where this was going.

"So, as far as I can tell, Seth likely killed everyone there, took control, found the password need to activate the nukes and…"

They both waited, but Jenkins said nothing. Mariposa looked confused and spoke up. "And? What happened next?"

Jenkins looked at them. A sorrowful, mourning look in his eyes. "That's it. That's the story. That's what happened. I'm sure you can guess what Seth did next. Also, I don't wish to continue any further. Simply telling you the events of what happened was painful enough. Now both of you go to sleep. I suspect you have a lot to think about." He sighed, fell onto his back and immediately fell asleep.

Both of them looked at him, then at each other.

Meteora made an annoyed face. "I don't get it. Why would Seth destroy the world? Wouldn't he just target the points of _major _Mewman influence? Which roughly was only a few towns? And how did he escape from that prison? Did a giant monster really attack the prison or was it something else? And that story was kind of disappointing considering he waited 15 years to tell us. I mean, is Seth still out there? And when and how did he clone himself? I- I just- I have so many questions!"

Mariposa nodded. "Yeah I do too. But you could tell it wasn't easy for him to tell us that story. I don't think we should ask him any questions about it. We should just leave it at that and accept it."

Meteora sighed. "Alright, I will. But that doesn't mean I won't ever bring it up again. _Now _I'm going to sleep. And you know what? You can have the pillow if you want Mari. I'm too tired to argue."

"Thanks Meteora."

"Yeah, don't mention it."

And with that they both laid on their sides,

attempting to fall asleep. Like Jenkins, Meteora fell asleep almost instantly, but Mariposa couldn't. She had so many questions of her own. She also felt like Jenkins was hiding something from them, an important detail that he purposely skipped over. But it didn't seem like he skipped it because it was too painful to talk about, more like he didn't tell them simply because he didn't want them to know anything about it. She could hear it in his tone.

She looked at the sky. She wondered if what Meteora asked was true. Could Seth really still be out there? Planning something else? And why did he choose to destroy everything? Surely he must have known monsters would get killed as well. Did he not know how powerful the nukes were? But he had to have known. Maybe he-

'Enough.' She thought, stopping herself. Now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to rest and make sure that they were ready for the journey through the mountains and through the territory of those "Black priests" Jenkins was talking about. She hoped everything would be okay.

But as usual, she was pretty sure that nothing would be okay.

It never was.

**End chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3: Magic wannabes

**The Tale of three**

**Chapter 3**

**Magic wannabes**

A voice called out.

"Hey. Wake up. Get up now."

Meteora opened her eyes, awakened by whoever called out. Wait. This wasn't right. She saw…nothing? Darkness? She sat up. It was the camp, but it was still dark. Was it still night? She looked around her. She saw nobody else.

She called out for them. "Mariposa! Jenkins! Where are you two?" No answer. She looked at the fire. It looked like it had gone out ages ago. She immediately got up. If the fire was out, then something very bad had happened. Jenkins had always told them to never put it out at night, no matter what, lest they get attacked by somebody and then they wouldn't be able to see their attacker.

She went to grab her spear, but it was gone. In fact, everything was gone. Their supplies, their weapons, everything. Only she remained. Did they ditch her in the middle of the night? No! They would never do that. She started walking in a random direction, unsure of where exactly she was going.

"Where are you going child?" Meteora jumped and whipped around to the sound of the same voice that woke her up. It had come from behind her. Nobody there. She looked around in confusion. Was she hallucinating? She considered the possibility, but then she heard it again.

"Why do you keep hope of finding your family? Why do you not just abandon them? Why don't you just let go of the past?"

Meteora shuddered. The voice seemed to be coming from all directions now, instead of directly behind her. And it wasn't a nice voice either. It sounded full of hate, a rage that seemed bottomless, yet still calm and collected, and managed to both intrigue and terrify her.

"Will you not answer me child? Do you really think you can ignore something that has been there all along?"

Enough was enough. It was time for her to ask the questions. "Who are you? What are you talking about? And what did you do with my friends?"

It laughed. A deep, humorless laugh. "I am the first, the last, the oldest enemy. I have been watching you your entire life on this world. I have been here all along. As for your third question, who said I did anything to them? That is where you will come in. You will be the catalyst for their end. For the end of everything. Of this world, of what remains of its people, and of those filthy creatures and traitors you call your family!"

Angered, she yelled back at the voice, still unsure of who it was. "No! You're wrong! I would never hurt them! They would never hurt me!"

"Are you sure? Are you sure you can put your trust in them? Here, let me show you something. Maybe this will change your min-"

"Stop! Don't you dare show me anything! Don't try and feed me your lies! Get out of my head!"

"Hmm. Very well. But don't worry, I have all the time in the universe to convince you." The voice immediately changed to a hiss. "But next time, don't expect me to play nice!"

The voice disappeared, and she quickly looked around her. Then she saw something lunge at her from the darkness. A shadow. She held up her arms to protect herself and screamed.

In an instant, she woke up again. "NO! GET AWAY FROM M-"

She stopped. She looked around her. She was awake for real this time. The sun had started to come up, and the fire was still going. Everything in the camp was still there. Then she noticed both Jenkins and Mariposa were staring at her, worried expressions on their faces.

"Uh, sis? Are you okay? You just woke up screaming."

She looked at them both in relief. "Yeah. Yeah I'm okay. Just a nightmare. Just a nightmare..."

Jenkins spoke up. "Well, I'm glad you're doing okay now, because we have another long day ahead of us. We have to go through the mountain pass into the territory of the Black priests. Once we get through that, there will be an easy path up the mountain so we can get past the mountain range. From there, we can once again keep moving forward."

Jenkins continued talking about his plan for what they were going to do next, but Meteora wasn't listening. She was still thinking about her dream. Who was that? Was that a real person somehow talking to her through her dreams or was it just a figment of her imagination? Then she remembered what the voice had said, about itself. About who they were.

She interrupted Jenkins 150 something step plan about what they were going to do next and asked him a question. If anybody would know something, it would definitely be him. "Hey Jenkins? Does the phrase " the first, the last, the oldest enemy" mean anything to you?"

Jenkins immediately froze in place and went pale, all the blood drained from his face. One could say he looked scared, and both Meteora and Mariposa hadn't seen him scared in years.

"Where… where did you learn that phrase."

It wasn't really stated as a question, more of a demand, as if he needed to know no matter what. She immediately regretted asking. Should she tell him though? They already had enough to worry about, and an evil dream being would just be another problem added to a pile of problems several miles high. But if Jenkins was scared of whoever this was, then it was serious. But she still decided to lie, there was no need for him to worry about anything else right now.

"You were, um, taking in your sleep, after you told us that story, and you said that phrase."

"Did I really? I don't remember that phrase appearing in my dreams." He said this as if he knew everything she said was a complete lie.

Meteora swallowed hard, unsure of what to say next. Mariposa just watched them both, unsure of what to do.

"Yes. You did say that. I remember it distinctly."

Jenkins looked like he might be mad, but then he stopped. "Hmm. Makes sense that I don't actually remember. I honestly don't remember anything about my dreams. I'm pretty sure if I did, I would go insane. Don't wanna know what a guy like me dreams about."

Meteora let out a breath she was holding in. She was holding her breath and she didn't even notice it. Mariposa spoke up, sensing that both of them wanted that conversation to end. "So Jenkins, when are we heading through the pass?"

"Right now. Gather the equipment and supplies. I'd like to get through the pass and start getting up the mountain before night falls." He rummaged around in his bag and threw them both a protein bar. "Here's breakfast. Eat up, we have a long day of walking. But that's every day, isn't it?"

And so they gathered the food, water, and all other essentials into their packs and set off. Jenkins and Mariposa walked in front of Meteora, but Mariposa looked behind her and purposefully slowed down to be next to her. She then whispered and asked her a question.

"I didn't want to ask this right next to Jenkins because I assume he knew something that you and I didn't, but why did you lie about him talking in his sleep? You fell asleep before me, and I definitely didn't hear anything from him."

Meteora looked at the ground and whispered back. "Listen, I just felt that something bad would happen if I told him the truth. I don't think you would understand either. I just don't want us to worry about anything else right now."

"Okay. But just, try not to lie to him again? We need to trust each other completely."

"Okay. If he asks again then I'll tell him the truth."

"Good. The last thing we want is for us to turn against each other. Now let's catch up, we're falling behind him."

Jenkins was in front of them with a scowl. Little did they know, but he had heard the whole thing. He could ask her right now, she had just said she would tell him the truth if he asked again. But he couldn't. She had a point, there was too much to deal with right now, and the last thing he needed was distrust to spark up between them. He decided he would ask her after they got through the mountains. For now, he simply concentrated on moving forward.

3 hours later…

After walking for an agonizingly boring 3 hours, they had finally managed to get to the mountain pass. Those mountains had looked a lot closer the day before, but appearances could be deceiving.

Jenkins stopped and turned around.

"Alright you two, we're going to have to go through the pass. You know what this means, yes?"

Mariposa nodded. "We have to avoid those Black priests or whatever you called them."

"That's right." He started entering the pass and the two followed him. "It's a good thing we left so early, I would rather not have to deal with them at night. Hell, it would be great if we didn't have to deal with them at all, but luck has never really been on our side."

Mariposa laughed, remembering her comment from yesterday about luck. Jenkins and Meteora appeared to have similar opinions about the concept, and Meteora and Jenkins having the exact same opinion was something that did not happen often.

They all entered the pass. It was definitely a man-made pass, as a perfect rectangular path carved out of rock wasn't really a natural occurrence in nature. It was 20 feet wide, and had two sheer rock cliffs on either side. It looked impossible to climb.

They had been walking for twenty minutes when Mariposa spoke up. "Hey Jenkins, how long is this pass? We've been walking for quite a while and I can't really see where this thing ends. I'm getting a bad feeling about this place."

"It's long. Roughly a few miles. And don't get too tired, even though this pass gets us past two mountains, we still have one more mountain to get past."

"And you said that one has a path up the mountain?"

"Yes. So get ready for some climbing. I figure we'll get to the mountain pass, climb up it, and hopefully get to the other side by nighttime."

Jenkins looked around with unease. He was also getting a bad feeling about this place, and he hadn't seen any signs of the Black priests, yet this area was supposed to be their hideout or whatever. Maybe they had moved somewhere else? If they were gone that was good news for everybody, so he wasn't complaining. But then, he heard Meteora's voice from behind him.

"Uh, Jenkins, who's that guy up there?"

He looked behind him. Meteora was pointing towards the top of one of the cliffs. He already knew who was going to be there. His own thoughts had jinxed them. He looked up. It was them of course. Or, at least, one of them. Ironically, despite being called the "Black priests" the only part of their outfit that was black was a featureless black mask. But that was all that they needed. When it came to clothing, headgear was the one that people usually seemed to remember.

Anyways, it was time to flee. While they could take this one guy, there were almost certainly more of them nearby, and Jenkins didn't have time to come up with a better plan then just getting the hell out of there. "Alright you two, on my signal, run. Run as fast as you can and don't stop until you get to the end of the pass. Got it?"

They both nodded. The Black priest was still staring at them. Waiting for their next move.

"Alright. Now… Run!"

All three of them took off. They didn't want to look back to see if they were being followed, because they all knew they were. Meteora looked to the side up the cliffs. She saw several of them now running alongside the edge. Well, it didn't really look like they were running. It almost seemed as if they were floating a millimeter above the ground. Did these guys actually have magic? Jenkins said it had all been destroyed, but was it possible that some might have survived?

Mariposa looked up the cliffs as well. Now it was dozens of them. "Jenkins! I thought you said all these guys would try to do is recruit us into their little cult! They don't seem very interested in doing that, or if they are, their way too eager!"

Jenkins looked at them both. "I said probably! I honestly thought that these guys were just a bunch of weirdo cultists, not psychopathic murderers!"

They kept running, and the priest's numbers just kept growing. There had to be at least 50 of them now. There! The end of the pass! They saw it. Just a few hundred more feet and they would make it! The cliffs didn't really lead past that point.

But the priests unfortunately had other plans. Darting past them on the cliffs with an almost inhuman speed, they jumped off the cliff and landed directly in front of them.

All three of them stopped. They looked behind them. The priests were coming down the cliffs there as well. In a matter of seconds, they were completely surrounded.

All three put their backs to each other, like a triangle.

All of them pulled out their knives, and Mariposa yelled at them. "Stay back you creepy bastards! We're not afraid to hurt you!"

In unison, the priests all pulled giant machetes out of their cloaks. Then they spoke, also in unison. "Neither are we. You have trespassed, and now you will pay."

They moved forward. Slowly, getting closer and closer.

Jenkins looked around them. Was there any way they could fight them? They were extremely outnumbered. He cursed to himself. They wouldn't last more than a few seconds. He had to accept the fact that they weren't getting out of this one. Jenkins sighed and spoke up, now directly talking to Meteora and Mariposa. "Well guys, I'm sorry. It seems I can't keep my promise to you or your parents. I don't really see a way out of this one. I just…hope you can forgive me."

Meteora looked up at him. "Of course we forgive you. Thanks for taking care of us for all those years. You...were a good father to us.

He looked down in surprise and smiled. " Hm. Thanks. Just promise me that you two will take care of each other in the afterlife or whatever. I'm pretty sure that I'm

not going to the same place as you guys."

They both looked up at him and spoke at the same time. "We promise."

The priests got closer and closer. Raised their weapons. The three braced for the inevitable strike. But then, a voice rang out.

"WAIT!" They all looked up at the source of the voice. Another figure up on one of the cliffs. They dropped down. The other priests immediately turned in their direction and bowed. This must be their leader. How they could tell who was who one another was anyone's guess.

The figure looked at them and spoke in a shocked tone. "Damn. You three are still alive? I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I didn't expect you to be the type of person that would risk their own life to take care of two children. I'm impressed Jenkins."

He had heard this voice before. Hadn't he? Yes,

he had. In fact, it almost sounded like… no, that was impossible. She was still at ground zero when Echo Creek was destroyed. How could she had survived?

The figure took off their mask. Jenkins looked on in shock. His suspicions had been correct. Meteora and Mariposa started in confusion, unsure of who this was.

"So Jenkins, it's been quite a while."

Jenkins couldn't help but smile. At least somebody he knew was still alive.

"Yeah. It's nice to see you again.

Janna."

**End chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4: Old friend

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 4**

**Old friend**

Blindfolded, Jenkins, Meteora and Mariposa were led towards an unknown destination, being guided by the priests. They heard Janna's voice speak to them.

"Sorry about blindfolding you, but I can't have you guys knowing how to get into our secret base. If you leave, you might go around telling everyone how to get in, and that would really be bad for us."

Jenkins kept his thoughts to himself. She had a point. Keeping something like that a secret is exactly what he would do himself. Wait. Did she say if they leave? What did she mean by that? Although Janna was nice enough before the apocalypse (although a bit weird) , she wasn't evil. While becoming the leader of a dark magic cult is something that does sound like her, he now suspected that she had ulterior motives other than "Hey guys, nice to see you again. Let me take you to our base and help you out" which is exactly what she said. Did she expect them to stay with her and join her little cult? He had things to do, promises to keep. They all did. He definitely didn't trust her though, no way. Although he had smiled when he first saw her, that was more of a reflex, as she was one of the first people he recognized that they found since the end of the world. He had to be cautious.

He soon came back to attention when Janna spoke up again. "Alright, we're here. You're gonna feel a little weird for a moment, but that's normal." They stepped forward and then felt an odd sensation. What was that? It felt similar to walking through a dimensional portal, something Jenkins had done many times before, but...stranger. It felt like he was walking underwater for a second. He felt himself enter an indoor place, where it seemed like the air was so stale it was older than time and the ground was just a bunch of rocks.

The blindfold was taken off him by one of the priests, and he saw his surroundings. It was a simple rock tunnel, very similar to the pass they were just in, only with a ceiling, also made out of rock. The ceiling was covered by a few measly light bulbs, and Jenkins was surprised that they had electricity. They had to have a generator somewhere. But where did they even get one? He looked behind him, only to be surprised to see a bare rock wall. That was definitely where they had come from. If there was an entrance there, it was expertly hidden. Maybe some kind of artificial mirage? The technology was possible, he had seen some instances of it before, but it was extremely hard to make, not to mention expensive. How did they get their hands on it? "So many questions, but no answers." He thought. "Story of my life. Story of everybody's life."

Janna signaled the 6 priests that had followed her and Jenkins, Meteora, and Mariposa. The rest of the priests had earlier ran off in different directions after Janna told them to go ahead of them.

The priests pushed them from behind, and they all moved forward. The whole base or whatever was similar to the entrance, just long rock tunnels with light bulbs covering the ceiling, but with the occasional large metal door leading to somewhere. Whatever these priests did, they wanted to keep it hidden.

Eventually they came upon a door that looked like it came out of the vault of the largest bank on Earthni. It was 10 feet tall and looked like it was several feet thick. Did they seriously bring that door here or was it already in this mountain for unknown reasons? It looked like it weighed 10 tons, maybe more. The amount of manpower needed simply to carry it would be immense.

There was a fingerprint scanner next to the door, and Janna took off her gloves and put her hand on it. The device glowed, beeped, and the door unlocked and slowly swung open.

Inside was a small room that had a bed, a table with four chairs, a cabinet, a pedestal with a huge book on it, and a few other items that didn't seem to be out of the ordinary. In fact, if it wasn't located in a mountain hidden behind a huge metal door, it might have seemed normal.

They entered, and Janna shooed the 6 priests away by waving her hand, and they all left. The door slowly swung close on its own, and finally it made a loud click. They looked at each other in silence before Janna spoke up.

"Well? Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna take a seat?" She pointed to the table and the chairs. All 3 of them grabbed a chair and sat down in it. Janna opened the cabinet. "So before we begin, can I get you anything to drink?"

Was she serious? She acted as if there was nothing weird about this whole situation, as if they were nice guests entering her little house. She acted as if the last time she saw them wasn't 15 years ago. She acted as if her lackeys hadn't just tried to kill them.

Whatever. Jenkins would play whatever game she was playing. She had to have something else in mind. In time, he would figure it out. But right now, it was time to talk. Humor her.

Meteora was about to speak up, but Jenkins answered for them. "We'll all just take some water."

Janna gave him a disappointing look, as if expecting him to say a keg of beer or something. She got a bottle and three glasses from the cabinet she had and poured the water in, walked over, and slid them the glasses. She then grabbed her own chair and sat down.

They all stared at each other. Nobody said a word, because they weren't really sure how to start this conversation. Mariposa looked at Janna. Jenkins had told them a few stories about Janna, but not a lot, as he claimed that she was usually unimportant when it came to magical things, even if she did study the occult and other dark practices. The only thing she really knew was that she probably wouldn't be dangerous, but they had to keep their guard up. Jenkins had plans for what to do if they ever met one of his "old friends" and how they should respond. His solution for dealing with Janna was something along the lines of "Watch your pockets and don't let her near our stuff. She might try to steal it." Well, their stuff had already been taken by the other priests to who knows where, so that ship was already sailed. Possibly sunk.

Janna finally spoke up. "So… it's nice to see you again Jenkins. Taking care of these two I see." She pointed at Meteora and Mariposa. "That's really nice of you." She said this with a mischievous grin.

Meteora attempted to introduce herself. "Um… Hi, my name is-"

Janna interrupted her. "No need to tell me. I know your name. I know both of your names. I knew you when you were babies, and I think I babysat you a few times? Did I? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did."

Jenkins was already getting annoyed, if Janna was going to act like… well Janna, then this wasn't going to be that easy. Jenkins had a lot of questions he wanted to ask her, but then again, Janna likely did as well. He spoke up.

"So Janna, I see you've been busy these past 15 years. Creating some dark magic cult, taking over this mountain pass, and I see you had an order to kill all trespassers apparently, based on how your lackeys were acting back there. Why did you have that order in place?"

"Hey. I may not like doing it, but I have to make sure that people don't go snooping around here. I don't want them finding our base."

Meteora frowned. "I don't think anybody is gonna find this place, because based on what I saw back there, your entrance probably looks like a solid rock wall."

Janna smiles at her. "Still, they might stumble upon it by accident. Can't take any chances."

Mariposa was confused. "Wait, so why didn't you kill us?"

Janna laughed. "Why would I? You guys are some of the only people that I knew before all this crap happened. I'm not just gonna kill you guys as if you were some random people."

Jenkins asked her a question. "Have you met anybody else that you knew before this all happened? Anybody at all? For us, you're unfortunately the first one."

Janna frowned. "No. No, I haven't met anybody else. I'm not sure where Star or Marco are, or Eclipsa or Globgor or anybody else."

"Do you know if anybody is dead?"

She looked down. "I know for a fact that two people that I knew are dead."

Jenkins didn't want to ask, but he knew he had too.

"Who?"

Janna looked at them. "I know that both Ponyhead and king River didn't survive."

Oh thank god. Although the fact that both of them died was unfortunate, he was slightly relieved it wasn't either of Meteora or Mariposa's parents. He had spent so much time looking for them, and if he had just learned they died, then a good deal of it would have been for naught.

He asked Janna another question. "So, how did they die?"

She frowned and looked away from them, staring at nothing in particular. Like Jenkins, it seemed like Janna also had a lot of memories that she would rather have not remembered.

Still, she gave them an answer. "Well, Ponyhead was filming her show. The Ponyhead show or something? I know for a fact that the studio was completely turned to ash, along with everybody inside. As for River, he died protecting us while we fled what remained of Echo creek. The people there saw it was the end of the world, and they had become animals, attacking everyone and everything. River was mobbed and told us to run and we did just that. I never saw him die, but I think it's pretty safe to assume."

Mariposa spoke up, having focused on one part of that story. "Wait. While we fled? Who else were you with when you ran?"

"Everybody from our school. River had been hired as the gym teacher there after he retired from being King. He wanted to toughen up the next generation. I assume he bribed the principle to get the job. Anyway, we all fled. I became the leader of the group, and eventually…" she gestured with her hand towards everything around them. "We became this. Black magic cult. Blacks priests as you call us."

Meteora asked her a question. "Do you actually believe that there is magic left?"

"Perhaps. I find it unlikely that Star could have destroyed all magic throughout the omniverse. Even if the magic dimension was destroyed, there has to be some left out there. Hiding in places impossible to reach, or maybe hiding somewhere where nobody would ever think to look."

Jenkins was intrigued, but not convinced. He had searched everywhere in Earthni for any sign of magic after the cleaving. Well, after he was done punching holes in walls. There was no sign of magic anywhere. It was all gone, all destroyed. It was possible that magic was out there in alternate realities. There couldn't have been just one magic dimension for all the trillions of dimensions and universes throughout the omniverse. It just wouldn't make sense. So, magic could have somehow made it to Earthni if magic from one of the alternate magic realms made it to the planet. But Janna and her cronies worshiped dark magic in particular, not regular magic. And dark magic didn't belong in the regular magic dimension. Was there a separate dimension for dark magic? He mentally sighed. Lost in his thoughts again. He hoped nobody had said anything important. Then he realized another hole in her story. Janna said that River had helped them escape the school, but that was a lie. River was at the party that everybody else was at. He hadn't been at the school. He had tried to escape with everybody else. That part was a complete lie.

Meanwhile, Mariposa was asking Janna about what the school was like, and Meteora was sitting there and listening to the story. But what to do now? What was Janna really up to? She wouldn't have just brought them in because she knew them. Would she? Janna was one of the few people who knew about the things he had done. What he had done to get to where he was. If she said something bad, Meteora and Mariposa might get the wrong idea and never trust him again. He couldn't have that. Not after everything they went through together. And the things that they would likely still have to go through.

"So… Jenkins." Janna started. He snapped back to attention.

"I see you've been taking care of these two. That's a surprise. I didn't know you were so capable of being a father."

"I am perfectly capable of being a father. But is it really that big of a deal that I'm taking care of them?"

"Um… yes. That fact that you would take care of them after you-"

"Don't you dare say anything about that Janna! I'm… just trying to… make up for a few things."

Mariposa looked at them confused. "What is she talking about Jenkins?"

"She doesn't know what she's talking about."

Janna laughed. "I know exactly what I'm talking about. I know everything. But don't worry. I won't tell them. But they will learn eventually. Whether from a friend of mine, or from somebody else, or maybe even you. But for now…" she looked at Meteora and Mariposa. "You two don't worry about a thing. We're just having a friendly talk between two old friends."

Silence. No one was really sure what to say next. And nobody wanted to say anything.

Meteora broke the silence. "So, um, how do you know each other? Jenkins told us a few things, but not the whole story."

Jenkins answered before Janna could. "I know her because she stuck her nose where it didn't belong. You constantly interfered in both the matters of the Magical high commission and the E.D.F.. You were lucky nobody shot you or arrested you."

Janna smirked. "Ah, come on Jenkins, let's put all that behind us. Sure I made a few mistakes, but nobody got hurt because of it."

"True, but what would you have done if somebody did?"

"Then I would have owned up to it. Now we've been talking for hours and it's starting to get dark."

What. They had just arrived like a half hour ago. There was no way it was night by now.

Meteora said exactly what Jenkins was thinking. "It's already night?! But we just arrived like a half hour ago!

Janna showed them her watch. "Not according to this." Her watch read 9:02 PM. How was it night already? Then again, she might have just changed her watch. They were also inside a mountain, and there was no way of telling if it was still night or day. But If Janna was gonna leave them alone, then he was all up for that. Still didn't trust her.

"So, I'm gonna take you to your rooms, if you want."

Jenkins frowned. "Um, no, that's fine. I think we'll just be on our wa-"

"Actually we would love it if you took us to our room!"

Mariposa blurted this out, interrupting him. She glared at Jenkins with a look that said "What? I'm not passing up the opportunity to sleep in a real bed for once. And besides, Janna is like the nicest person we've met since this all started."

Janna smiled. "Well good. I'll take you to your room." She took a remote out of her pocket and pressed a button, and the giant metal door opened. They all walked out with Janna leading them until they got to a metal door whose only difference from the other was the fact that somebody had scratched the word "guests" into it. Really crappily too. Janna opened the door with the remote as well. It must have had access to every door in the mountain. How convenient.

They all looked inside. Inside were two beds, a desk, and a chair. There was also a side room, a bathroom Jenkins presumed. The whole room looked like the bare minimum of a motel room. He seriously wondered if the priests had brought all this with them or just found it somewhere. They all walked in. Janna stayed in the doorway, pressed a button, said "See you tomorrow! We'll have a lot to talk about!" Then the door closed and clicked as it locked.

Jenkins grimaced. "Annnnd we're trapped."

Meteora scoffed. "Don't be a pessimist. If you were Janna, you wouldn't want someone like you snooping around this place would you?"

Jenkins sighed. She had a point. But he still didn't trust Janna. Never. Not at all. He learned not to trust anyone except himself and the two people he raised. He looked into the side room and it was indeed a bathroom. Although that was being slightly generous. It consisted of a hole in the ground and a bucket of water. But it was still better than what they were used to.

He looked back at Meteora and Mariposa. "Alright you two, I don't want you to get too comfortable around here. We're gonna stay the night here because you wanted us to, and then tomorrow we're gonna set off again. I don't want us to spend too much time here."

Both of them spoke at the same time. "But why not?"

"Because I don't want you to join a cult or something! I don't really trust Janna, considering how many people she's likely caused the deaths of with her "no trespassing" rule, and I fear she isn't really herself anymore. She has to have an ulterior motive for us. We can't let our guard down."

Meteora sighed at him. "Listen Jenkins, just enjoy the moment while it lasts. Look! We have beds! Actual beds with a mattress and everything! The last time we got this opportunity was years ago! So I'd like to stay here for at least a few days and see what Janna has to talk about."

"I- you- alright. Alright alright alright. We'll stay. But at the first sign that something is wrong, the first sign that something isn't what it seems, we're leaving."

Mariposa rolled her eyes. "Alright Jenkins, we'll do that."

"Good. Now go to sleep. On your precious "actual beds."

He took a blanket from one of the beds, put it on the rock floor, laid down on it and fell asleep instantly. Meteora and Mariposa still didn't know how he managed to fall asleep instantly. It was just a thing he seemed to do.

Mariposa looked at Meteora. "Do you think…do you think he's right? Do you think Janna has something else planned?"

"I don't know and right now, I don't care. We've been through enough that I don't want to think about being betrayed or anything like that. So, night." She climbed on her bed.

"Yeah. Good night."

Meteora struggled to fall asleep. She wasn't used to this. The bed didn't feel right to her. She rarely ever slept on a real one. She groaned. She grabbed one of the pillows, set it down on the floor and laid there. Much better. Much more used to this. She finally fell into a deep sleep, not knowing the visitor that awaited her in her subconscious.

**End chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5: Dreams and deceptions

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 5**

**Dreams and deceptions**

"Welcome back."

Meteora's eyes opened in a flash. She looked around. She was still in that guest room that Janna had led them to. But something was different. Jenkins and Mariposa were gone. And that voice that welcomed her was one she had heard before. She sighed. She knew what was going on. She called out to it, even though she didn't want to.

"What do you want?"

She heard it again. It was no doubt the same voice she had heard just a day earlier. Same tone, same articulation, same everything.

"Oh, it's simple, I just want to talk."

She frowned. "Just talk? Last time you told me not to expect you to play nice. You told me that I would be the catalyst or whatever for my friends deaths! I don't really want to talk to you."

"Hmmm. Did I say that? Forget I said that. It was kind of in the moment. I was getting a little overexcited. And besides, if you attacked your friends right now, it wouldn't be good for me. I need you and them uninjured. Can't have you three unable to escape danger when things go south."

"When things go south? I don't know if you noticed, but we're in a pretty good position right now. We're in a mountain, guarded by who knows how many people, and the leader happens to be someone who apparently used to babysit us. Nobody can get to us here."

The voice made a disappointed sigh. "So naive. So inexperienced. Do you really think you are safe there? And I'm not talking about outside attacks. It's what's on the inside you should be scared of. Jenkins is wise not to trust Janna. You would be wise to not trust her either."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know how much a person can change In 15 years? A great hero can become a horrible villain, a monster can become a man, a simple mischievous thief can become… a killer."

"I may not trust her completely, but I definitely trust her more than I trust you. Even if you say she's killed people. Everybody that's still alive has probably killed someone else. That's the way the world is now."

"True. But I'm just trying to warn you. Tell you what, next time Janna comes around, maybe try and swipe that remote from her. It's in her left pocket. Use it and look around this little base of hers. You might find some things that should have remained hidden. It will show you the truth of who she is. Since you didn't want me to show you the truth about something last time, you might as well look for truths yourself. If you trust her right now, believe me when I say you won't later, and you'll thank me for warning you."

Meteora stayed quiet. Was this person really trying to help them? Wait. No, it wasn't. It had said it was an enemy. The first enemy. Whoever this was, it was not someone that was to be trusted in any way. But it did seem like it was just trying to help her this time. Who was this person? What did they really want? What game were they playing? Then a thought popped up in her mind. Something important from yesterday. She had been thinking about it.

"Alright, Since you appear to be omniscient or something, I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"Was Janna right? Is there still some magic left in the world?"

"Ahhh, now that's a good question. And the answer is yes. It would be impossible to completely destroy all magic. Although atoms and quarks and other such things make up the universe, magic is what makes up the atoms at the smallest levels. If magic was destroyed completely, then the universe, and all dimensions would cease to exist, which obviously didn't happen. Magic is still everywhere, but at the smallest levels. That little spell that Butterfly casted all those years ago didn't destroy everything. I don't think any spell could."

"Is there any magic left that we can use that's not too small to see?"

"Most likely. It would be extremely hard though. The amount of willpower needed to summon it would be astronomical. Not easy in any way. Now, since you asked me some questions, I get to ask you one."

She grimaced, but agreed. "Fine. Shoot."

"Who do you trust more? Your sister, or Jenkins?"

Meteora was taken aback by the question. Why would this person want to know that? And besides..."Wouldn't you already know? You said yesterday that you've been watching me my whole life. You should know who I trust more." While this was true, Meteora also said this because she didn't want to give an answer. She wasn't really sure herself, but she felt like it was always leaning more towards one side.

"True. But I want to hear it from you. Say it, or I'll keep you in this dream and continue talking to you until your ears bleed. I am in control here."

Damn it. She had to answer now. She got the answers to her questions, and leaving would be the only thing she wanted to do now. But if this was the only way to leave, then she had to tell them the answer.

"Fine. I- I trust-." She took a deep breath. "I trust my sister more."

"Hm. And why is that?"

"Because I've known her my whole life. While Jenkins did take care of us, I trust Mariposa because I know her best. And she knows me best. We've lived with each other our whole lives, and while I trust Jenkins greatly, sometimes I feel like he purposefully hides truths from us. Sometimes even truths that could be helpful. And sometimes that makes me weary of him."

She paused. She didn't want to continue any longer.

"Why did you want to know that anyway?"

"I have my own reasons. But thank you for telling me. I'm going to leave now. But don't get too excited. We will see each other again very soon. I'm looking forward to it."

A bright light flooded the place, and Meteora closed her eyes involuntarily. When she opened them again, she was back in the guest room. The actual one. Nobody else was awake yet. She sighed. What to do now? The voice said to try and take the remote from Janna, but what if she couldn't? The voice had a point. They had to find out more about this place. She wasn't so rude about Janna anymore. But she wasn't good at stealing. She wasn't fast enough.

But she had to think of something.

**1 hour later**

One hour later, she still didn't have any good plans. Both Mariposa and Jenkins were awake, with Mariposa sitting and thinking to herself, with Jenkins just pacing around the room, obviously waiting for something to happen to them.

He finally spoke up, speaking to them both. "Alright, do you two believe me now?"

Mariposa looked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that do you believe me that Janna is up to something?" Jenkins asked. "It's been hours and we're still stuck in this room. I feel like if she really wanted to talk to us, she would have arrived here the second we woke up."

He looked around the room. "I bet there are hidden cameras in here. There's no way she would just let us stay here without having a way to keep an eye on us. She probably doesn't trust us either."

Meteora was still lost in her thoughts. She still had no idea what to do. Maybe she could-

Too late. They all heard the door unlocking and looked at it. It swung open and Janna was there.

"Hey guys. Good morning. I see you're all awake."

(Silence.)

Jenkins spoke first. "Yeah we are. What are you here for?"

"I'm just here to talk to you guys again. Like I said yesterday. Come on, I'll take you to my room again and we'll have a nice little talk."

Mariposa quickly got up. "Actually, there's something I want to do, Janna."

"What is it?"

Mariposa quickly stepped forward and hugged Janna, shocking everyone. Meteora looked at them with a look of pure surprise, Jenkins looked like he might puke, and Janna seemed just as surprised as the two of them.

"I just want to thank you for taking care of us and for your hospitality."

After a moment, Janna spoke up.

"Um.. yeah. No problem" She lightly patted Mariposa on the back. Mariposa let go of her and quickly put her hands behind her back.

Everybody stood in silence before Janna finally broke the silence. "Alright, so follow me." She turned around and then reached into her pocket to get her remote, only to find nothing. "Hey wait-" she started as she turned around again, only to be met with Mariposa leaping at her, the chair from the desk in her hands and raised above her head. Janna only had time for her eyes to widen before Mariposa smashed the chair over her head, breaking it and knocking Janna out instantly.

Both Jenkins and Meteora looked on in utter shock. Mariposa looked back at them.

"What? Did you guys really think I trusted her? I could tell from the tone in her voice yesterday that she was lying to us the whole time. She's hiding something in this place. Something bad. And I'm going to go find it." She held up Janna's remote. " Heh. Took this from her when I hugged her. Knew it would likely throw her off enough that she wouldn't notice me taking it."

Jenkins' face turned neutral. He couldn't believe it. Then he smiled. "I'm so damn proud of you. But why didn't you tell us you were planning to do that earlier?"

Mariposa smiled back. "I wanted to see the look on your face. And yes, it was worth it. Now stay her and restrain her with something. I'm gonna go explore this place."

Meteora couldn't believe it. She didn't even have to do anything. While she was attempting to come up with plans, it seemed Mariposa had come up with one of her own. It was so out of character for her...and she was impressed she came up with it by herself. But she still didn't want Mariposa to sneak off by herself.

"Hey wait, you're gonna go by yourself?"

"Of course. I need you two to guard her, and I'm the best at sneaking around."

Jenkins nodded. This was true. He had taught them all lessons on how to sneak up on people, not be caught, and even which nerves were best for knocking someone out. But it turned out a chair was just as good.

But Mariposa was easily the best. For some reason Meteora could never hide her footsteps, and that made it extremely easy to detect her. And it would be best if two people were guarding Janna.

"Alright. Good luck. I'm trusting you. Come back and tell us about anything you find."

Mariposa nodded. She quickly left the room and pressed the button on Janna's door so nobody would suspect anything. It closed, and she stood alone in the hallway.

She ran down the hallways, memorizing the route back to her room as she went along. It wasn't easy. The whole place looked the same, and she wasn't even sure which door to open. She didn't want to open a door and have a dozen Black priests standing there.

She heard footsteps. She quickly opened a random door without thinking and ducked inside. It was extremely dark inside. She pressed the button again and the door started to close. "Come on come on, close faster!"

The door finally closed with a satisfying click. She sighed in relief as she heard the footsteps slowly pass the door then fade away. She looked around her. The room was completely covered in darkness. She moved forward, along the wall. Was there a light switch or something? She found one. She flicked it on and...nothing. It was just an empty room. An empty storage room maybe? It didn't matter. There was no time for thinking about that. She pressed the remote and exited the room. She then turned back and noticed the door had a rather small dent on it. She made a mental note to herself that that room was empty. She closed the door, then kept moving.

**Meanwhile…**

After Mariposa left, Jenkins and Meteora took the blankets, ripped them apart and then used them to tie Janna to one of the beds.

Jenkins looked at her, then at Meteora. "You know, I'm really kind of impressed by Mariposa. I didn't think she had it in her to do something like that. Did you have any idea she was gonna do that?"

Meteora shook her head. "No. She didn't tell me anything. I was actually making some plans for myself to get the remote from Janna. I didn't really trust her either."

That was a partial lie. She had trusted Janna, but after that dream she hadn't been so sure, with the voice warning her about Janna and telling her to steal the remote. Had that voice really influenced her? She had to make sure to not let herself be influenced by it. Influence was one of the most dangerous things.

Jenkins smiled again. It seemed that both of them learned that it was a mistake to trust people easily, even if somebody you knew used to know again, they could all have been wrong, Janna might not be hiding anything, and this would all be for nothing. Still, he had to trust his instincts. Then he remembered something. Something important. In case they somehow didn't make it out of this situation alive, he wanted to know the answer to the question he was about to ask.

"Soooo" Jenkins started. Meteora looked at him.

"Where did you really learn that phrase from?"

Meteora was thrown off for a second. "What phrase?"

"The one you told me about earlier. The first, the last, the oldest enemy. That one. Where did you really learn it from?"

Meteora stiffened. Crap. She had promised Mariposa that she would tell him the truth if he asked again, and she regretted making that promise now. Now she knew that Jenkins had known it was a lie the whole time. She had already suspected it, but now it was confirmed.

And that made it a million times worse.

She started talking. She didn't want to break her promise, even if Mariposa wasn't here. "Alright. But you can't be mad at me."

"Can't be sure of that, depending on the answer."

"Okay. I learned it from one of my dreams, not from you talking in your sleep."

"Hmm. Yeah, I suspected as much. And where in your dream did you hear it?"

She looked down. She had no idea how he would respond to this. But based on his reaction back at the camp, with him suddenly looking afraid of something, she suspected it wouldn't be good.

"Somebody in my dream introduced themselves as that. They called themselves that."

"What do you mean? Who else was there?"

"I couldn't see them, but I could feel them. Hear them. They called themselves that. It didn't feel like it was part of my subconscious, it felt like it was an actual person coming into my dream and talking to me."

Instead of an angry look like Meteora expected, Jenkins got the scared look he got back at the camp. "What, what was the environment like?"

"Um, you guys were gone, all our stuff was gone, and it was still dark. The fire was out. I was alone."

Jenkins immediately stepped back and put his hand on his face, muttering to himself. From what Meteora could hear, he was just swearing intensely.

Worried, Meteora asked him a question. "Do you know what that means?"

He looked back at her, with an expression that was a mixture of disbelief, anger, surprise, and who knew what else.

"Yes I do." He looked away.

"Somebody casted a spell on you. With magic."

Meanwhile…

Mariposa was still running through the halls, looking for any doors that seemed different than the others, any way that would make them seem suspicious. Luckily, she hadn't ran into anybody else while doing this.

But she had seen plenty of doors. She didn't open any of them. While it would make sense that something they were trying to keep hidden would be behind a door that looked normal in order to allay any suspicions, there had to be something that would set it apart. She kept moving, but then she noticed something. There were starting to be less doors. Less lights. And it seemed like the hallway was getting smaller.

Then the doors stopped completely. As well as the lights. She stopped, and stood alone in the darkness. She moved to the side and put her hands on the wall, then kept going as she felt for anything.

There. Metal. Another door. This had to be it. Kept in the dark, away from everything else, Janna obviously wanted nobody to ever find it.

She took out the remote and pressed it. The door opened slowly. She walked in and felt along the wall again for a light switch, just like the empty room from earlier. There. She found it. She flicked it on.

The entire room immediately lit up. She covered her eyes with her hands for a second, adjusting to the sudden light.

She looked around the room, and gasped.

"Oh my god…"

It was a rather large room, much larger than any she had seen. But it was what was in the middle of the room that was important.

A pile. No, a small hill of skeletons. There were dozens. Probably hundreds.

She couldn't look away. Her breathing started getting faster. She had seen plenty of death in her life, but this, this was just...horrible.

Were these all the people that had entered the mountain pass? All the people that Janna killed for trespassing? How many people had tried to get past these mountains, only to...

Then her eyes fell upon another pile. It was smaller, but was composed of only one thing.

A bunch of backpacks. School backpacks to be specific. Stacked neatly in a pile like a bunch of trophies.

The slow realization came to her. Janna said that she had fled with everybody in her school. Did this mean… all these bodies… were the kids that came with her?! Did she kill them all? And if so, who were the other priests? And how did she manage to kill them? Did she…

Enough. She had to get out of there. She couldn't take it any longer. She bolted out of the room, pressing the button and closing it behind her. She stopped and put her hands on her knees, panting. Not out of exhaustion, but out of fear.

"Why… why would she… and how…"

She couldn't think straight. She ran. She had to get the others and leave this place. There really were no safe places anymore.

There really was nobody you could completely put your trust in, no matter how nice they were.

That much was obvious.

**End chapter 5**

**A/N: Thank you for reading and please review or PM me if you have any questions.**


	6. Chapter 6: Fight or flight

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 6**

**Fight and flight**

"What do you mean, with magic?"

"I mean exactly what I said. Somehow, somebody used magic to cast a spell on you that allows them to communicate with you in your sleep. I recognized the spell."

Back at the guest room, Meteora and Jenkins were talking about the spell that somebody put on Meteora. It wasn't going very well.

Meteora for one couldn't believe it. "But I thought all magic was destroyed!" Then she remembered the voice. What it had said. It said that magic was still there, but in atomic form. But it has also said that it was possible to cast spells, but it would take an enormous amount of willpower. It would likely take someone extremely skilled in magic. Who could that be? She didn't know that many people.

Jenkins was about to say how it was possible that some magic may have survived, but then they heard Janna beginning to wake up. She opened her eyes groggily and moaned in pain. Both Meteora and Jenkins stepped in front of the bed she was tied to.

"We'll continue this conversation later, Meteora. But for now, It's time to take care of this little problem."

Janna looked around her, at the bed she was tied to, at Meteora and Jenkins, and finally at the broken chair by the door. She sighed and spoke up.

"So, where's the third one?"

Jenkins glared at her. Kind of an odd starting question from Janna, but he didn't care. "She's out to go find whatever you're hiding from us."

Janna laughed. "I told you the truth back in my room."

Meteora stepped forward. "Maybe, but you definitely didn't tell us the whole truth."

"Of course I didn't, a story like that would take days to tell. Did you really want me to tell you every single detail?"

Both of them shook their heads at her. "That's not what we meant!" Jenkins said. "We meant that you were hiding something important from us. Something you definitely wanted to keep hidden. Mariposa is going to find it, and then we'll figure out what to do with you."

"How can you put so much trust in her finding something? My priests are all over this place. She will likely be caught."

Meteora spoke up. "If anybody could sneak around without being found, find things that were meant to be hidden, it would be her. We both place our complete trust in her."

"How sweet. Now, are you gonna apologize?"

"For what?"

"For smashing that chair over my head. That really hurt you know."

Meteora scoffed. "First off, Mariposa did that, and she isn't here right now. Second, I'm sure if she was, she wouldn't apologize. Neither of us would."

"Yeah, I suspected as much. But if you won't apologize, then I gotta show you the consequences of your actions."

She quickly pulled a knife out of her sleeve with her right hand, and before Meteora or Jenkins could react, she quickly cut off the blanket that was tied to her hand, then quickly did the same to her other hand, freeing herself and leaping off the bed.

Both Meteora and Jenkins quickly stepped back, but it was more out of surprise than out of fear.

Janna smiled. "What's wrong guys? Why are you so scared of me all of a sudden? (They weren't) I mean,I'm pretty sure you could still take me, but you can't take that risk, can you?"

Meteora frowned. Janna started moving forward with the knife pointing towards them, but Jenkins wasn't having any of that. He quickly rushed forward and grabbed Janna's arm and twisted it. She yelled in pain and dropped the knife. She attempted to punch him with her other arm, but Jenkins quickly grabbed it and headbutted her, sending her stumbling backwards towards the wall, holding her head in pain.

Jenkins looked at her in disappointment. "You know Janna, I don't know why you thought you could really attack me successfully with that thing. People seem to forget that I was the leader of one of the most powerful military organizations on Earth, and I didn't get to that position by not knowing combat training. And while my skills may be a bit rusty, I can still sure as hell still disarm someone who's attacking me with a weapon as simple as a knife."

He picked up the weapon and pointed it at her. "But I would like to see you try and disarm me. So come on, take your best shot."

Janna looked at him, still holding her head in pain. Jenkins wasn't sure what she was going to do next. Then he heard the door open behind him.

He started turning around. "Ah good, Mariposa, what did you fin-"

It wasn't Mariposa. It was two of Janna's lackey priests. They stared at Jenkins, then at Meteora, then at Janna. Then they looked at each other and pulled out their giant machetes.

Both Jenkins and Meteora backed away from them, this time out of slight fear.

Janna smiled. "Did you guys really think I would come to your room alone? I mean, I did, but I told these two to come for me if I took too long. And I can assure you that they will definitely put up a better fight than I did Jenkins."

Jenkins sighed and whispered to Meteora. "I got the one on the left, and if you get the one on the right to the ground, I'll finish the job." Meteora nodded.

Janna looked confused. "What are you two whispering about? I can assure you that-"

Before she could say another word, Jenkins quickly threw the knife at the left's priest head. It went straight through the mask, through his eye and into his head. He fell, brain dead the second he hit the ground.

The other immediately rushed at him with his machete raised, but Meteora fell to her knees and quickly swept his legs out from under him. He fell on his back

and Jenkins rushed forward and stomped on his neck, crushing it and killing him.

Janna looked on in surprise. She couldn't hide her shock on her face. Jenkins looked at her and smiled. He then took the knife out of the priests head and shook the blood off it. He then spoke directly to her.

"I think you were saying something funny Janna, about how they would put up more of a fight? Didn't look like it to me."

Janna scoffed and was about to talk, but then Mariposa burst into the room.

"JENKINS! METEORA! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HER-"

She paused and looked around. She noticed the two dead priests and the now freed Janna near one of the walls.

"Um, what happened here?"

Meteora looked at her. "Long story. Well, not really, but not important right now. What were you yelling about?"

Mariposa then looked at Janna with a hateful glare, still remembering what she found in that room. "I was saying that we needed to get out of here. Right now. I found a room with a giant pile of skeletons. I also found a bunch of backpacks in that room stacked in a pile as if they were trophies or something."

Jenkins and Meteora looked at her in shock, secretly hoping that what she was saying wasn't true.

Mariposa pointed at Janna. "Remember how she said she left Echo creek with all the kids from that school? That was them! She killed them and dumped their bodies in that room then put their backpacks there for whatever reason!"

They all looked at Janna, who sighed. "Dammit. Well, you got me. No real point in denying it now. I admit it. Kinda impressed you found that."

Jenkins started moving toward her, his grip tightening on the knife. "Janna, would you care to explain to me why I shouldn't use this knife to torture you to death right now?" His voice was calm, but full of rage.

Janna smiled. "I don't have a reason, but I do know something that will stop you from doing that. I was hoping to save this until later, but I guess I really don't have a choice."

Jenkins stopped, and Janna raised her right arm at him Before anyone could do anything else, her hand started glowing purple.

Jenkins eyes widened. He knew what was happening, despite every part of him saying that it was impossible.

A shockwave of magical energy immediately shot from her arm directly at Jenkins. He moved out of the way just in time, just barely dodging it and feeling it pass a centimeter from his head. The blast shot past him and blew a giant hole in the wall behind him that led to the hallway.

He quickly dashed over to the desk that was in the room, grabbed it, threw it at her, then grabbed Meteora and Mariposa, tossed them through the hole, then leaped through himself. Janna's arm glowed again and she fired the same blast at the incoming table, turning it into splinters.

Jenkins pulled them to their feet and yelled at them. "RUN! JUST RUN!"

All of them ran away from the room as fast as they could, and started hearing footsteps as other priests moved toward the commotion. Meteora yelled at Jenkins as they ran. "She has magic!"

"I noticed!"

"How?!"

"I don't know and I don't care right now! Keep moving!"

They kept running until they passed a door that Mariposa noticed she had seen before. It had a small dent in it. She immediately grabbed Janna's remote from her pocket and opened the door.

She then yelled at the other before they could keep going. "Quick! In here!"

"How do you know it's safe?"

"Trust me!"

They all went in and Mariposa pressed the button again, and the door closed. Mariposa quickly found the light switch and turned it on.

Yup. Same empty room. Good thing too. Despite being the same room, she was worried that for some reason there would be something in it now.

Jenkins looked at her. "How did you know this room was empty?"

"Found it earlier while hiding from someone. Recognized it from the dent in the door. Thank god I remembered it."

They all looked at the door and Meteora spoke up. "So, how are we gonna get out of here?"

Jenkins put his hand on her shoulder. "We wait a while until the sounds outside have stopped completely. I assume Janna will likely call everyone together in one place to tell them about us and to tell them to find us. When they are all in one place and not chasing us, we'll find our way out of here and never come back. We will then finally go through the pass, up the mountain path, and then finally leave this entire area altogether."

Meteora and Mariposa nodded. All they had to do now was wait. Occasionally they heard footsteps moving through the hallways, but after roughly 15 minutes, they stopped hearing them.

Jenkins got up from where he was sitting. "Alright, that's our cue to move. Mariposa, open the door."

She took out the remote and pressed the button. They all got behind the opening door, in case someone was waiting for them on the other side. No one there. They all sighed in relief and left. They moved through the hallways, as quietly as they could, looking for the blank stone wall that was likely the disguised entrance.

Then they saw light coming from one of the hallways. Not from a lightbulb, but it seemed like natural light. Another way out perhaps? They all looked at each other and rushed towards it. They turned the corner, expecting to see an exit, but they found something much different.

It was Janna. Her hand was in the air, brightly glowing, giving off the appearance of light coming from the sun. Surrounding her were no less than 50 priests, weapons in hand, looking at them.

Too many. Way too many to fight.

She smiled at them. "I knew that trick would work. I knew it would fool you. One of the most important rules I've learned is to not be blinded by something. In your case, it was your desire to leave this place. I don't know why you would think that we would have some random hole leading outside, considering that our main entrance is camouflaged."

Jenkins spoke, secretly terrified of her. "Where, where did you get that magic? How are you even using it? Even if magic still existed, you shouldn't be able to use it without a wand or anything. You're not a Mewman or a monster or any other type of magical creature!

She looked at him with an expression that read "I know more than you do and I'm disappointed that I do."

"You know, Jenkins, anybody can use magic, they just gotta know how. You have to have the right teachers. The right sources. The right mindset. I mean, I only had two of those things, but I'm sure that two out of three is still considered a win."

"Not when it comes to something like learning magic."

"Maybe. Anyway, it's time for you to die. I would kill you myself, but I think having other people do it for you is the more satisfying way. Priests!"

They all looked at her.

"Kill them for me, would you?"

They nodded and slowly moved forward.

All three of them ran back towards the hallway and left the priests behind, who started running and chasing them. They heard Janna's voice call out to them and fade away as they ran.

"Keep running guys! Remember, even if you escape, I still have magic, and I'll always find some way to find you later ruin your lives! Have fun!"

They ignored her and kept moving. The priests weren't far behind, but thank god they didn't have magic like she did. Jenkins wondered who else could have magic if Janna had magic. He didn't like that thought. Janna was one of those people that looked for things even if she knew they were lost, and there weren't that many people like that. But it did look like her searching had paid off for her.

A group of roughly 4 priests appeared in front of them, cutting them off. Jenkins looked at Meteora and Mariposa, who looked back. Jenkins sighed and spoke up.

"Remember what I taught you two."

They both nodded.

Three of the four rushed forward, blades raised. Jenkins caught the blade of the nearest one, cutting his hand in the process. He quickly ripped the blade from the priest's grasp and slashed their neck with it. They then fell to the ground, bleeding out.

Meteora quickly punched the second priest in the chest before they could attack her as hard as she could, breaking several of their ribs. They fell to their knees, clutching their chest in pain. She smiled. Her half-monster side gave her natural strength that made her much stronger than any Mewman or human, and using that strength to gain superiority in combat was one of her favorite things to do.

On the other hand, Mariposa was just dodging the swings of the third priest, and she quickly yelled out. "Jenkins!" Jenkins, who has just finished killing the first priest, threw the machete at her. She caught it by the handle, dodged another swing and stabbed the priest through the heart with it. They fell to the floor, dead.

The fourth priest, who had stayed back to let the other three take care of them stood frozen, unsure of what to do. Jenkins looked at him, then quickly stepped forward, grabbed his head and bashed it against the stone wall as if he was swatting a fly. The priest then slumped to the ground. They all looked at the 4 priests, all of them either dead or incapacitated, and were surprised that they were able to do that so easily. Then they remembered they were being chased and they took off once again.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, they finally found a dead end. Or so it seemed. Jenkins slowly felt at the blank wall with his hand, and the wall seemed to glitch when he touched it, like a computer screen infected with a virus. He looked at Meteora and Mariposa.

"Alright let's go. Time to leave. Forever."

They all stepped through the wall only to be met with the pass from earlier. The entrance of the base looked no different from any other part of the pass. Jenkins looked side to side, wondering which way to go. He just picked the left way and hoped he was right. They ran and kept running until they felt like they were going to collapse. Then they ran some more.

Finally they saw the end of the pass. Jenkins had thankfully picked the correct way to go. And unlike last time, there were no Black priests waiting for them there. They exited the pass and kept going. They saw the other mountain that Jenkins had talked about earlier in front of them and Jenkins pointed at the path leading up to it. They all went towards it and ran roughly a quarter mile up the pass, they finally stopped running.

They all fell to their knees, completely exhausted. Mariposa looked behind them, expecting to see all the priests still chasing them.

Nobody there. Nobody was chasing them anymore. They had stopped. They were safe. She sighed in relief.

Jenkins looked at them both, still breathing heavily. "So, what did we learn from that experience?"

Meteora spoke up first. "Don't trust anybody anymore, even if you used to know them?"

"Correct. And what else?"

Mariposa fell on her back. "That magic is still around, somehow."

Jenkins got a faraway look. "Yeah. It is. And I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know what the hell to do now that we know that."

Mariposa sighed. What a train wreck. They didn't gain much out of that situation other than the fact that they gained a new enemy, and that the enemy had magic. In fact, they didn't really gain much from that experience.

Then she remembered they had lost something as well.

"Jenkins."

"Hmmm?"

"Our supplies. All out food and water. Everything. It's all still back there."

Jenkins took a moment to process this then groaned and put his face in his hands.

"Great. Just great." Meteora said. "What do we do now?"

Jenkins looked at them both. "We can't go back there, so we do what we always do in situations such as this. We keep moving forward, and hope for the best."

**Meanwhile…**

Janna looked at them using the all-seeing eye spell, watching them rest after running from her priests.

"Nice work guys." She said to herself. " I half-expected for you to die, and I'm honestly impressed. Don't worry about your supplies, I'm sure you'll last past the mountain. There's a town past it anyway. One I think you'll be very happy to see. I still have more plans for you. But in the meantime, I got my eye on you."

She laughed. "Heh. Hehe. Get it?" she said to no one in particular. "It's because of the eye spell, and I'm watching them, and, and, um." She paused. "Oh, forget it."

She sighed and looked back at the spell. "Although, I do have the perfect spell to make this situation more entertaining. Let's see how much fun they have mountain climbing when their past comes back to haunt them."

**End chapter 6**

**A/N: I know this is very OOC for Janna, but trust me, that will be explained later. And it will be one hell of an explanation. But thank you for reading and please review or PM me if you have any questions.**


	7. Chapter 7: Mountain of Ghosts

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 7**

**Mountain of Ghosts**

'_This is not going to be easy.'_

That was the thought that was echoing through Jenkins mind as they continued their climb up the mountain. They had no supplies. No food. No water. As for weapons, they had a knife and a machete Jenkins grabbed off one of the Black priests, but that was it.

Worst of all, though, was that Janna was discovered to be alive, and she was a murderous sociopath. With magic. Most likely powerful magic. He had no idea how he would deal with her if she appeared again. Back when Earthni was still a civilization, the E.D.F. took care of magical threats using the most powerful weapons known to man. Experimental railguns. Giant EMP's. And on one occasion, they almost used a nuke.

Almost. That was a bad day.

But now they had none of that, and a few knives wouldn't do that much against a magic user. So they just had to put as much distance between Janna and themselves. They had already lost enough.

He looked down and grimaced at the wound on his hand that he received earlier. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but that didn't mean everything was okay. He didn't have anything to bandage it with, or treat it with. If it got infected, then that would be bad. He might get a fever, or nausea, or anything else that would weaken him. And if Janna appeared again, he might not be able to fight at all.

Just one more thing to worry about.

They walked in silence up the path for a few minutes. Nobody said anything. Then Jenkins felt something pass over him. He stopped. It felt like an invisible wave of energy. Like something made all his hair suddenly stand on end. He looked behind him, and he noticed that Meteora and Mariposa had stopped as well. They felt it as well.

"You guys felt that too, right?"

Meteora looked in the direction she felt the wave come from, which she thought was directly behind them.

"Yeah. I did. I think that was-"

She looked back at Mariposa and Jenkins. They were gone. Then she felt a presence nearby, and immediately thought that she was in another one of "those" dreams. She waited for the mysterious voice that plagued her to speak up.

She wondered what it was going to say this time. Probably something like "I told you not to trust Janna." Or it would most likely give her another piece of advice that she would probably ignore.

But she heard...nothing. The surrounding area was still light anyways, unlike the other two ones where everything was covered in darkness. This wasn't a dream. It was something else. She looked around her, searching for anything that might give her an idea as to what was going on. Then she heard a voice, but this one was unfamiliar. One she had never heard before. One she never wanted to hear again.

"Ms. Heinousssss"

She froze. It sounded old. Broken. She looked behind her. There they were. Several old ladies. They looked too old to even still be alive. They were dressed like...royalty? Nobility? She felt like she had seen them before, but she couldn't figure out where.

"You did this to us Heinous."

Meteora spoke, her voice trembling.

"What-What are you talking about? Who are you people?"

"Don't you recognize us? Your victims? You stole our life force to keep yourself young. Look upon what you have wrought. You did this to us."

Meteora looked at them. They had called her Heinous. Jenkins said that in the past she was a headmistress of school for princesses, and she was apparently 300 years old. He said that Heinous was the name she had called herself. She hadn't believed him at the time, as she thought that she would have memories of it.

But it seemed like the memories were coming back to her whether she liked it or not.

She backed away. She wasn't sure if these people could actually hurt her, but she wasn't going to stick around to find out. She ran up the path, not looking back. She just wanted to get away from them. She didn't want to see if they were following her. Maybe it was the mountain that was making her see this. Maybe if she could just get off of it-

She gasped. They were there. Directly in front of her. Waiting. They had just appeared. She realized there was nowhere she could really go now.

Then she saw more of them. But it wasn't just a bunch of old ladies. There were suddenly hundreds of people. All of them different. They were wearing what looked to be some kind of medieval attire? Then she noticed heir eyes. Or rather, what was wrong with them. They were pitch black. Their eyes were just empty pits.

Then they spoke as well. All in unison, their voices echoing throughout the area.

"Meteora butterfly. You did this to us. You took our souls. You are a murderer. A thief. A monster."

She was panicking now. Jenkins had never told her about this. Was he protecting her from something? From her past crimes? She couldn't think. She just had one thought. To get away from them.

She ran back down the path, but they were waiting for her there too. She looked left and right. They were there as well. Before she knew it, she was surrounded. She felt like she could easily fight most of them off, but she didn't want to hurt them. She felt like it wasn't right. And she was too scared in the moment to do anything. For some reason, these people put an intense fear in her. And now she was surrounded by her victims. By the ones she had hurt, in a life she didn't remember, one she didn't know she had.

They got closer. They didn't actually get close enough to touch her, but they began yelling at her. Shouting.

"Demon!"

"Monster!"

"Mistake!"

"Filth!"

They continued. She just wanted it to stop, but it never did. It just continued. She fell to her knees. She put her hands over her ears. It did nothing. She heard them. She heard them all. She couldn't drown them out. They kept going, and she screamed.

**Elsewhere…**

Mariposa ran and looked behind her. Were they still following her? Yep, they definitely were. She quickly ducked behind a rock. She looked around. Meteora and Jenkins were gone, and now she was being chased by a bunch of weird monster-like creatures. They had appeared out of nowhere and had spoken to her, saying she had killed them in a called the neverzone, and now she would pay for what she had done. She hadn't heard of any of this before, or remembered it.

Then she heard a footstep above her. She looked up. It was one of them. A monster with what looked like a mass of horns for a head and two massive arms, now standing on top of the rock she was hiding behind.

"Found you little girl. Now we're going to do to you exactly what you did to us."

She had a pretty good guess of what it meant by that. It raised its arm and swung at her, but she quickly rolled away and got up. It leaked off the rock, and she saw dozens of others being like it coming up behind it, rage filled faces, all directed at her. What could she do? All she had was a knife, as Jenkins had taken the machete from earlier. She wasn't even sure if she could take one of them. She didn't know how to fight them. Her expertise in fighting was using her speed to dodge any enemies attacks, and then stab them. But she didn't know how to dodge these things attacks. Their attacks seemed too random. Too messy. If she tried to fight she would likely die. She then heard one of them appear directly behind her, and she turned. She got ready to stab it, but it was too late. It grabbed her arm.

Then she saw something. It was like she was having a flashback. A vision. She saw herself, but she was wearing different clothes. She looked like she had seen combat too many times to count. And she also saw Meteora there. But she looked different as well. But the most surprising thing was the creature that had touched her arm was there. She was fighting it, dodging all of its attacks. She then saw herself stab it in the head. The creature in the vision screamed and died. It ended.

She was back to her real life nightmare. The creature that had grabbed her arm spoke.

"You see? Do you see? You killed us. You killed all of us! Whether in cold blood, or just because you were looking for a fight, or in anger after you discovered we didn't know magic, you killed us."

She frowned. She then realized something else. What the creature hadn't realized, was that the vision had shown her something else. Something that was extremely important. She looked it directly in the eye and spoke.

"You may have shown me my crimes, but there was something you shouldn't have shown me."

"And what is that?"

"You showed me how to dodge all your attacks."

She quickly tossed the knife to her free hand then slashed the creature on its arm. It let go of her and was about to attack her, but she recognized the attack from the vision. She quickly dodged it and then stabbed the creature. It then screamed and crumbled to dust. It turned into nothing.

She looked at the rest of them who had watched the whole spectacle.

"Now it's your turn."

She quickly rushed at them, and reached out and touched several of them at the same time. As she had expected, she saw more visions. Of what she had done. Of what they had done. Of how she could evade their attacks. Previously she had though their attacks were random, but now she could see a pattern. Now she could kill them. And this time, they wouldn't come

back to haunt her.

And that's exactly what she did. Dodging their attacks left and right, then stabbing and killing them. They came at her in unison, but they attacked one at a time, making them easy to take care of.

Touch, vision, dodge, stab, next one.

Touch, vision, dodge, stab, next one.

She did this for all of them.

Just like they said she had done to them in the past.

**Still elsewhere…**

"Where are you two?"

Jenkins was still looking for Meteora and Mariposa after they had vanished. They had disappeared a few seconds after that weird wave hit him, and now it was like they were never there to begin with.

He stopped calling for them. He was sure that whatever this was, it had either teleported them somewhere, or made it so that they were invisible to him. So either way, he wouldn't find them like that.

How bothersome.

Then he felt something. A presence. A familiar one. One he hadn't felt in years. One he hoped he would never fell again. But there it was. He recognized it immediately.

He spoke one word, said in the same tone as someone greeting someone else.

"Lythol."

He then heard a voice. Like the presence, one he hadn't heard in forever, yet still familiar. It spoke in the same tone he had just used.

"Jenkins."

"Why and how are you here?"

"Oh, you know, I'm just stopping by. Seeing how things are going with you."

He frowned. This was an illusion. Most likely a spell. The real Lythol would not appear to just "stop by and see how things are going."

"I don't believe you. You're not the real Lythol."

"Of course I am, I can prove it to yo-"

"You're a spell cast by Janna. After we left her little base. I take it she did it in order to piss us off? Make the situation more entertaining for her? If she knew anything, she would know that having you appear and talk to me wouldn't convince me, as I know that if Lythol was actually here, I would either already be dead or on another plane of existence by now."

…

…

…

"Wow, just take all the fun out of it, why don't you."

Jenkins scoffed. "I'm not in the mood for games. Just get the hell out of here, end the illusion, and let me go find Meteora and Mariposa. God knows what they're seeing right now."

"Oh, they're seeing plenty. Mariposa is currently just killing all her illusions. I wasn't really expecting that, but it's still entertaining to watch, even if those illusions are technically me. Meteora, on the other hand, is currently on the ground crying to herself. Unfortunate."

He growled. That was it.

"Leave. Now. You're nothing but a spell. Created only to serve someone else. Created only to obey the whims of your master."

"Tch. See, that's the problem. You don't see us spells as being sentient. You don't see us as separate beings. But we are. We have emotions. We have feelings. We're just as- oh what's the word? Ah, yes, we're just as _human _as you Jenkins."

He paused. He knew full well that spells were sentient, he was one of the few that did, but he usually chose to ignore that fact. He didn't have time to chat. Then he remembered that before yesterday, he didn't believe spells or magic still existed.

"How are you here? Magic should have been destroyed."

"Ask Meteora. I believe she was given an answer. In one of her dreams. She has talked to you about her dreams, hasn't she?"

"How do you know that?"

"My job as a spell is to look into your past and find out what haunts you, whether you know what it is or not. I looked into your mind and saw all those lovely memories of yours, and this is what I have to say: Yeesh. You have issues. I seriously had a hard time choosing what to pick as your illusion. Picked this one because nothing else has ever affected you more in the long run. Guess I should have picked something else."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Who knows. Maybe I'm bored. Maybe I'm making the best out of the time I have to do this. I don't get out much anyways."

"Poor pitiful you. Now get out of here."

"Hm. Third time you told me to leave. Third times the charm, isn't it? Very well. But I won't leave your adoptees alone. You can take care of that yourself."

Jenkins was about to tell the spell to leave for a _fourth _time, but then it had one last thing to say.

"Also, I looked through your memories. All your memories. And since we were on the topic of Lythol earlier, I think it's appropriate to say that the day the truth about that lovely little mark on your hand is revealed is going to be great."

Jenkins looked at his right hand. At the mark that was on it. To anybody else, it would have just looked like a tattoo. It was supposed to be a somewhat honorable mark, but he felt like it was just shameful. Nothing but another past mistake.

"What did you tell those two it meant? That it was the symbol of the E.D.F? How cute."

Jenkins couldn't think of a comeback. The spell was right. When the day truly came, it was quite possible everything would fall apart. He couldn't let that happen though. He had to do everything to prevent it.

"Goodbye then."

Jenkins felt the presence vanish, and although the area around didn't really change, he felt like it was now different than before, as if something had changed, but he couldn't see it.

He was still standing in the same spot as before though. He hadn't moved at Meteora and Mariposa definitely had. He looked around. Mariposa wasn't anywhere to be seen, and he saw Meteora a little further down the path, on the ground, seemingly crying to herself, just like the illusion said. He started to walk over to her. He didn't really want to know what she was seeing, but if he was going to help her, he might have to.

**A "little further" down the path…**

They were still yelling at her. Their voices weren't even comprehensible anymore. Just noise. But she still heard every single one. She just wanted it to end. But it didn't.

Then she heard a different voice.

"Meteora!"

She knew that voice. Unlike the other voices, this one was could hear it over the other voices for some reason. Maybe it was different? Maybe because it was real?

"Jenkins? Is that you? Help me! I can't- I can't face them."

"Why not?" Jenkins didn't know what she was seeing, but whatever it was, it was bad. Really bad.

"They're shouting at me. About all the horrible things I did. I don't remember them, but I feel like what they're saying is true. That I killed them. Stole their life force or their souls. I feel like I did all those things."

"You didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen to me. Whatever you're seeing, it's just an illusion. Although it may look real, and sound real, and may even feel real, it's not there. You just have to find a way to get rid of them. And I'm pretty sure I know how."

"How?"

"That feeling you just described? Where you said you felt you did all those things? It's just your past self feeling guilt over it. But you don't have to feel guilty. You didn't do those things. That was Ms. Heinous. Not you. Heinous was the one who stole life force and took souls. But you didn't. You are not responsible for that. You don't have to feel guilty. You don't have to feel anything toward those people at all, because you weren't the one who hurt them. You are not who you were in the past."

She thought about those words. They made some sense. He had to be right. She had to try. She had to try and believe it. She got up. She looked at the people, the illusions, still yelling at her, but she heard none of it. She just saw their mouths moving. They stopped. They stared at her. She closed her eyes.

She repeated several words to herself. About how it wasn't her fault, about how it was Heinous, about how she didn't have to feel guilt for hear things because she didn't do them. She made it so that she believed these things. So she truly believed it. Made it so that it was true. Made it so that they had to believe it as well. Suddenly, she felt alone again. She no longer felt anybody surrounding her. She opened her eyes.

Gone. They were gone. The feeling was gone. The guilt was gone. She didn't feel sorry. She didn't need to anymore. It was over.

She took a few deep breaths and fell to her knees. She looked around her. There was Jenkins, smiling at her.

"Nice work. Nice job convincing yourself."

"You say that like I now believe a lie."

"It's not a lie. You weren't responsible for what happened to them. You're somebody else now. Somebody better."

"Thanks." She got up and hey stood in silence for a few seconds. Then she remembered something.

"Wait! Where's Mariposa?"

"Oh, her? I think I saw her attacking something that I couldn't see."

Right on cue, they suddenly heard Mariposa yelling and both of them looked in the direction of the yelling. Just like Jenkins had said, there was Mariposa, with her knife, attacking something they couldn't see.

Meteora stared at her.

"Should...we try and help her like you did with me?"

"Mmm...nah. I think she's got this. Eventually she will probably just kill them all and the illusion will fade. I believe in her."

"Oh. You could actually hurt those things? I thought about fighting back, but something told me that it wasn't right."

"It's understandable. Don't want to hurt someone that's you've already hurt before. Although, Mariposa doesn't seem to really mind."

Meteora groaned and sat down on a nearby rock. After a few more minutes, Mariposa seemed to have finally killed the last of whatever was haunting her.

"Yeah! Take that you worthless-huh?"

She looked at them.

"Have you guys been watching me do that the whole time?"

Meteora smiled. "No. We've had our own problems to deal with. Hey, wait, what did you see Jenkins?"

He immediately looked away. "Nothing much. It tried to show me something, but I basically told the spell to piss off."

"Nice." She paused, and realized what he had said.

"Wait, that was a spell?"

"Oh yeah. And I'm almost positive that Janna cast it on us. Luckily for us, it wasn't the deadliest illusion spell. The worst ones would even be really described as illusions."

Mariposa suddenly got an annoyed expression. "They didn't really seem like illusions. One of those things that I saw touched me! Like, I actually felt it!"

"Like I said, not the deadliest."

Both Meteora and Mariposa were both confused. They weren't sure if he was hinting at something that they didn't understand, or if he just didn't know what he was talking about.

He spoke again before they had a chance to ask him

about it.

"Well, now that that's all said and done, let's keep moving."

They couldn't agree more. Although they now knew they that it wasn't anything on the mountain that caused them to see those things, but likely Janna, the only thing they wanted to do now was get off of it.

And so they walked and kept walking. Up the path until they reached the top of the mountain. They all stopped to look around them. They looked at the surrounding landscape, but there wasn't much to look at. Mostly desert, with a few stray dead plants. That's how everything was now. They all stared at it. Meteora then noticed something in the far distance. A town? Or what looked like the remains of one. She pointed it out to Jenkins, who nodded.

"Well, I guess that's where we're going. Another bunch of ruins."

They went down the mountain, slowly. They didn't want to waste too much energy, get anymore tired then they already were.

Then they made it to the base. Meteora looked back up the mountain. How long had it been since they had found this mountain and made plans to go over it? Just a few days? It had felt like weeks. With everything going on, with the mysterious voice, with Janna, with magic still being alive, and now with that illusion that had just happened, it had felt like so much time had passed. So much had happened.

They kept moving forward, towards the direction of the town. They couldn't really see it now that they were on the ground, but after a few miles, it began to come into view. Same pattern as the rest of the towns. Ruins, rubble, and the like.

Jenkins froze as they got closer.

Mariposa stopped as well.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

Jenkins didn't say anything for a few seconds. He just stared at the ruins of the town. Suddenly, he burst out laughing . Both Meteora and Mariposa stared at him in surprise. The last time he laughed was back at the campsite a few days ago. Two times in one week? That was unheard of.

He finally stopped, and Meteora asked him a question in a concerned tone.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?"

He didn't turn around.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I just can't believe, after all this time, the way we found it is just stumbling upon it like this."

"Stumble upon what?"

He looked at them.

"Welcome to Echo creek, you two."

**End chapter 7**

**A/N: I had fun writing this one. One of the first chapters I had in mind when I first started this thing. As always, thank you for reading and please review or PM me if you have any questions or comments.**


	8. Chapter 8: Return to Echo creek

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 8**

**Return to Echo creek**

Ruins.

That was all that was left.

It had been one of the greatest towns...no, not a town. By the time the apocalypse happened, it had grown into a city. And it was glorious. A perfect mix of Earth and Mewnian culture. Humans, Mewmans and Monster living side by side together in harmony.

It was something that no one thought possible… and yet it still happened. And although all of Earth got a piece of Mewni, this was the epicenter. The capital of a new world. It was perfect. A perfect place.

But now… it was just like everywhere else.

Just another shadow of the past.

Just another place that was full of death.

That's what Jenkins was thinking about as they walked slowly through the city, inspecting every piece of rubble that they came across. They were looking for something, for anything that might be useful. They still didn't have any supplies. No food. No water. Jenkins still had the thought of his cut getting infected in his mind. No way to treat that. And Janna was probably still thinking of ways to kill them. That spell she did back on the mountain was probably only the tip of the iceberg. Who knows what else she was capable of.

They didn't have to worry about things such as radiation though. 15 years of the radiation levels going down had taken its toll on the danger, and even in a place like this, there was no real effect. The real danger had been in the first few years. Those had been the hardest. Especially with two toddlers to take care of. That was not fun.

They soon started coming upon large amounts of rubble. They were starting to get into the main city. The ruins they had previously inspected were nothing more than destroyed cars, trucks, and the like. All too damaged to ever work again. They were unfixable.

Now there were ruins of buildings. But they were no different than the destroyed vehicles. So many words that could be used to describe them. Eradicated. Obliterated. Toppled. Burned.

But good old "destroyed" seemed to fit best.

They searched them. At first, it was exactly what Jenkins had expected. Anything that would be useful was either too damaged to work, or it had been stolen by somebody else. They moved from house to house. Jenkins recognized a few houses, the ones that he remembered seeing on his many visits to the city. He must have visited it a hundred times. To meet with other leaders, to oversee how things were going, or to take care of situations that needed the E.D.F.'s attention. He never really visited for fun though.

He was starting to regret that.

Another hour of searching went by and then they came upon a house that Jenkins recognized immediately. He froze. Although it was a pile of rubble, he knew what it was. It was the Diaz household. Where that party was. Where he was when the world ended. He remembered what had happened that day. He remembered what had happened...

**15 years ago…**

"We all have to leave, now!"

Everybody stared at him. There they were, having a party, and the guy that they forced to come suddenly told them they had to leave. Not a surprise really.

Marco laughed. "What are you talking about? Look, I know you didn't really want to come, and I know you have things to do, but can't you just enjoy-"

Jenkins interrupted him. If what he just heard from his phone was true, then the end of the world was about to happen.

"NO! Moon!" He pointed at Moon, who had been busy dancing with River before Jenkins started yelling.

She looked at him in surprise, just like everybody else.

"Um, yeah?"

"How fast can you evacuate your citizens?"

"What are you talking about? That would take hours! And why would we need to evacuate anyways?"

Jenkins gritted his teeth, and raised his voice to make sure that every single person there heard him.

"Because the entire city is about to become a pile of ash along with everybody in it! Apparently, if what I heard is true, Seth of septaris just attacked the E.D.F. 's headquarters, took it over, and was just about to launch a bunch of nukes when the line went dead!" He held up his phone.

That got their attention.

Star cautiously laughed. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Nobody moved.

Then Marco's phone buzzed. He quickly pulled it out and looked at it.

"What the hell?! I just got an alert! It says there's a ballistic missile inbound?"

Jenkins cursed. That alert meant that the nukes had just been detected to have launched. That meant they were already in the air. That meant they could strike at any moment. And that meant that they didn't have much time.

"Do you believe me now?!"

Tom started panicking. "What do we do?!"

"We get the hell out of here as soon as we can. Grab every piece of food and water that you can carry. I suspect we're gonna need it. Get nothing else. Now go!"

Nobody questioned that order.

There was a scramble as people grabbed all the food and water as they could. Outside, Jenkins could see people panicking out on the streets. There was no time to help them. That bomb could hit at any moment. If they were going to survive, they had to get out NOW.

Everybody piled into their respective cars and carriages, but Moon stopped.

Jenkins looked at her. "What are you doing? We have to leave."

She paused. She looked in the direction of the castle and the Mewnian part of the city.

"We can't- we can't leave the citizens to fend for themselves. We have to try and save them."

Jenkins looked down. He knew this was true. To simply leave and save themselves was selfish. In fact, it went against exactly what he stood for: to protect the Earth and its citizens against things such as this. But he knew he couldn't stop this. It was already too late. He had already failed. He wished he could have been there, back at the headquarters, defending it. Sure, he likely would have died. But at least he would have died doing his job. But he wasn't there. And now they had to get it before it was too late."

"We can't. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. It's too late to save anyone else now." He quickly climbed in the car he came in. It looked normal, but was actually heavily armored. It was the safest vehicle there.

He looked at Eclipsa, Globgor, and Mr and , who were holding the still extremely young Meteora and Mariposa. He pointed to his car. Put the babies in there and then get in. It'll be safest for them and you in there."

They obeyed, and Star stepped forward and spoke up.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Follow me. I know a few places where we should be safe." But in his mind, he knew that he would not be able to get to them in time. At least not before the bombs hit.

He got in his car, and drove off at top speed, with everybody following him. He had to swerve to avoid some other cars from people who were also leaving the city.

He hit a speed bump and flew several feet in the air. Eclipsa quickly attempted to comfort the crying Meteora.

"Can you go a little slower on those things?!"

"No time! We have to-"

A bright light suddenly appeared behind them. Too bright to look at. They all stopped talking. They all knew what it meant. Jenkins looked behind them and squinted his almost couldn't look at it, it was so bright. But he still saw it. A giant ball of fire rising behind them.

They weren't far away enough. The blast likely wouldn't get them, but the shockwave and the dust cloud from it would toss the car around like a leaf in a tornado.

He attempted to go faster, but the pedal was already on the floor. He saw the wave of dust coming up. It was already too close. They hadn't gotten anywhere near faraway enough.

Oh shit, it was fast, way too fast, they couldn't-

The wave blew the car over and ended the rest of his thoughts.

* * *

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

"HEY!"

Jenkins looked behind him. Meteora had just yelled at him, getting his attention.

"Oh. Um, what is it?"

"What is it? You've been standing there staring at that house for the past 5 minutes! I've been trying to get your attention. What happened?"

He looked back at the ruins and thought about the flashback he had just had. Had it really been 5 minutes? That flashback was not a fun one. While she would likely want an explanation, he didn't need to tell them. He had already told them that story before anyways.

"I was just thinking about something."

"Okay, well can you keep helping us?"

"Yeah."

They walked away from the house, and Jenkins took one last look at it. He wondered what would have happened if he had never gone to that party.

But there was something else too. That flashback didn't feel like a memory for some reason. It felt more like a dream. Like it had only happened in his mind. But that was what happened, didn't it? He remembered it like it was yesterday. He brushed off the thought. He believed his instinct. That all happened. It had to have happened.

And so they continued searching, but they still found nothing. Meteora grumbled and spoke up.

"There's nothing here!" She sighed. "All our lives you've told us about this place, and now we're here. But there's nothing. I know it would be mostly in ruins just like every other place, but I was kinda expecting something more."

Mariposa was confused. "What were you expecting more of?"

"Like, maybe a settlement, or a group of survivors that aren't evil. You'd think that a place like this would

be perfect to build a new world on."

Jenkins shook his head.

"Not when the radiation was still active. I bet by the time it died down, everybody was long gone and didn't want to ever come back here. The only people that did come

back were the ones desperate enough to search the city for supplies. And who can blame them…"

"Well, is there anywhere that might still have stuff in it? I don't think we're gonna find much by going through the remains of these houses."

Jenkins thought about this for a moment. There were a few places. The monster temple maybe? He could see it in the distance, and although it looked like most of it was gone, there was still some parts of it left. Maybe there was something in there. Butterfly castle? He looked over at it. It was actually in better shape than the monster temple. Still a wreck, sure, but possible still livable if repairs were made to it. Careful repairs.

They would go to those two places. And if they didn't have anything, then he would go to option three. He doubted if it even still worked anymore, as it would need magic to work. But magic was still around apparently. Maybe Janna wasn't the only one who had rediscovered it.

He looked at both of them.

"Alright, here's the plan." He pointed at the ruined temple. "We're going to the monster temple. We will search every inch of it for anything that may help us. If that doesn't work, we will then go to butterfly castle. And if that doesn't work… then I'll figure something out."

All three of them started walking towards the temple. It was actually in better shape than Jenkins had previously thought. The large monster face carved out of rock was gone, and a good deal of the stairs and other small things were destroyed, but other than that, it was fine. It was honestly still amazing how it was standing. It had sustained so much damage in the past, not even mentioning the damage from the nuke. From Ludo, to the MHC, to Meteora when she was evil, to Mina. So many things had befell it. But it was still there.

Then a thought crossed his mind. He wondered if Mina or Ludo were still alive. Mina was a slim possibility. Nobody had heard from her since she ran off after her and her warriors were defeated. Jenkins personally thought she was dead, as the only thing that was keeping her alive for hundreds of years was the solarian magic she had. Her age would likely come back to her no less than an hour after Magic was destroyed. They didn't have to worry about her.

Hopefully.

As for Ludo, Jenkins had no idea. He had ceased to be a threat to Earth after Star killed that lizard. What was his name? Toffee? He had only been to Earth once or twice, and he really didn't do anything other than stand around and watch Ludo fail, so Jenkins didn't hear much about him.

But If Ludo was still alive, he wouldn't be a threat on his own. He was just annoying. Like Janna was. At first. Another thought crossed his mind. What if Ludo was it there and had magic as well? The possibility of Ludo having magic similar to Janna's was not something that Jenkins liked. He shuddered and reminded himself to consider any further possibilities for later.

They continued walking forward until they reached the base of the temple. There were so many holes in the thing. So many he had trouble picking which one to go through. But any one of them would probably do. He picked one at random and spoke up.

"Alright, try not to touch too much. This place may look stable, but I don't want to take too many chances. If you see something that looks like it holds something else

up, try not to lean on it or something."

They both nodded. The last thing they wanted was this place to come crashing down on them while they were still inside. Not the worst way to go, but definitely not the best either.

They entered.

Meteora and Mariposa looked at the place in awe. The worst of the damage had definitely been outside. A good deal of the inside had remained. They had never seen anything like it before. Buildings created by monsters were extremely rare, as most of them had been constructed with simple materials that caught fire if you so much as brought a match within five feet of them, so none of them had survived the apocalypse. But this one was different. They looked at the carvings on the walls. Most of them cracked and crumbling, but still visible to some degree.

They continued staring at the walls for a while until Jenkins told them to start searching for things.

And they did. The temple looked much bigger on the inside than the outside. There were dozens of rooms. But, as expected, they were mostly empty. Not much remained other than a few bits of ruined furniture.

"Hey!" Mariposa suddenly called out. "Look what I found!"

Both Meteora and Jenkins went towards the sound of her voice. He came upon a gigantic room with a large broken crystal in the middle.

Meteora looked up at the thing in surprise.

"What is this?"

Jenkins knew what it was. After Globgor had broken out of it, they had kinda just left the crystal there, as removing it from the temple would require tearing down several walls.

"It was the crystal your father was imprisoned in."

Meteoras eyes widened.

"This...was my father's?"

"It didn't belong to him. He was just kept in it by the magical high commission."

"Wow. My dad must have been huge. But you said he could change size right?"

"Yeah. It explained a few things when I found out that he could do that."

"What did it explain?"

Jenkins paused.

"Just some stuff. Did either of you find anything else by the way."

Both of them shook their heads.

Jenkins cursed silently. He had hoped to find something here, but there was nothing. Even everything that was in the secret passageways were gone. How did people even find those?

"Okay. Then we're going to the butterfly castle."

Mariposa looked discouraged. "And if that doesn't have anything in it?"

"Then we go to option three."

"What's option three?"

He paused for a moment, then answered.

"The underworld."

Both of them looked shocked and then spoke in unison.

"The what?!"

He repeated what he had said.

"The underworld."

Meteora looked at him like she didn't believe what he had just said, even though he had said it twice.

"How...do you plan on getting us there? You said it was a different dimension that required magic to transport to. We don't have...oh wait. Magic is still around, isn't it?"

"Yeah. And you're right. We do need magic. I know how to get in, if the magic that allows us to get in still works."

"What, do we need to cast some kind of spell?"

"No. But here is a back door. Kind of a mini portal. I think it was opened a long time ago by accident, and for some reason it never went away. It was also opened in the middle of the forest of certain death before magic was destroyed, so hardly anybody found it. I only found it because I went to Mewni looking for things just like it. I wasn't going to not take advantage of a secret portal to the underworld. I did only get to use it once though."

Mariposa suddenly looked afraid. "So, if the Butterfly castle has nothing, we have to go into a place called "the forest of certain death?""

Jenkins smiled. "Don't worry. All the creatures and monsters in there are dead themselves. If there's anything living there right now, I'm sure we can take it."

Meteora was puzzled. Where did this back door come from? How long had he known about it?

"Wait, did you ever check on the portal after the cleaving?"

"No. I didn't see any reason to. All other portals like it had been destroyed, so I didn't see a reason to check it out."

"So… if that portal was destroyed, along with all other portals, how did the underworld get to the surface?"

"They didn't."

"Huh?"

"Only the few demons that were on the surface before the merge were the ones who stayed. Including the prince."

Meteora struggled to remember who he was talking about, then she vaguely recalled a story Jenkins had told them.

"That demon guy? The one named Tom?"

"Yeah. I remembered how mopey he was about it. It was not easy to talk to him, and I had to, considering he was the underworld's ambassador to the surface. He kinda put a bummer on the mood wherever he went."

"So, why would we go to the underworld again? How would it be different than any other place?"

"Because that place was almost certainly untouched by the nukes. It's completely underground. If there's any place where people would be living, where society would still be going, where we can find some supplies to keep us alive, it would be there."

Meteora thought about this. Jenkins had a point. A place completely underground would likely go untouched. But still…

"What if the portal isn't there? What if it doesn't work just like you suspected fifteen years ago?"

"Then...we'll figure it out."

That answer didn't seem very comforting, but they didn't know what else to suspect. They were used to things like that by now.

They left the temple, double checking everything as they went along. But just like the first time, there was nothing.

They left, and continued walking through the destroyed city. They didn't search anymore houses, as just like Meteora had said, there was likely nothing there. Nothing that could help them anymore.

After a few minutes, they finally made it to the Butterfly castle. Like the temple, the outside was in sorry shape. One of the towers was completely gone, and the other towers were heavily damaged, the tops of them now nonexistent. The castle looked somewhat stable though. It was a decent distance away from the main blast, which had been in the middle of the city, and the castle was more on the edge. Most of the damage to the castle was from the shockwave, not the fireball. Why Seth didn't choose to have the castle as his main target was anyone's guess.

Entering was no problem. The gigantic wooden doors were gone, as well as most of the defense walls that would keep anybody out.

But there was one thing that stood out. There were plenty of skeletons. It looked like half of the entire Mewman population had gathered in the courtyard that led to the castle when the bomb hit. They didn't really know what was coming. They didn't know what they were facing. Only a few of them had any idea.

They ignored them as best they could and entered the castle.

It was a lot like the monster temple. Not much of anything left at first sight, with random damage spread everywhere, and the whole thing basically just being a mess. And unlike the temple, the walls weren't covered with nice carvings, so there wasn't much to see.

But they searched. There were a lot more rooms in the castle than the temple, but most of them looked too unstable to enter. If they had set one foot inside them, the entire castle would probably collapse. As for the rest of the rooms, they were empty, as expected.

Then they came upon the room full of tapestries. They were all still there for some reason. The most likely reason was because people didn't think they had any worth anymore. And they were right. These had no real purpose now. Except maybe to use as a large sheet.

But there was nothing else to look at, so they continued staring at the tapestries, unaware of the horned figure that was watching them, waiting for the right moment...

**End chapter 8**

**A/N: Sorry if this ending seems a bit abrupt, but I was struggling with exactly how to end this one. But as always, thanks for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	9. Chapter 9: Tapestries and tales

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 9**

**Tapestries and tales**

Meteora stared at the tapestry that had just caught her eye. She then looked down at the pedestal that described each queen. It said that the person in the tapestry was named Eclipsa. She looked back at it in surprise. This...was her mother? And the red monster that she was with must have been her father. She stared at it in awe.

She realized that this was really the first time she got an image of what they looked like. Jenkins had told her descriptions about her parents, but she never really knew exactly how they looked. She could only imagine them in her mind. But his descriptions met the tapestry perfectly. She suddenly had a desire to rip it off the wall and take it with her. This was possibly the only image of her parents she would ever see, and she didn't want to leave it behind when they eventually left. But she knew that she couldn't do that. It was too large. But maybe, just maybe, she could come back for it later. When things weren't so bad. When they weren't so complicated.

Jenkins noticed her staring up at the image. He walked over and looked at it with her.

Meteora spoke up.

"This was my mother and father, right?"

"Yeah. That's them. Do they look like you expected? How I told you?"

"I guess. It fits your description of them." She continued staring, but then she noticed another figure in the painting, This one was much smaller though. And he was blue and wore a robe.

"Who's that little blue guy?" She paused for a moment. "Wait, is that Glossaryck? The magic guy you told us about?"

Jenkins nodded. "Yeah. That's Glossaryck . He's in all of them. All the tapestries."

"Who is he again?" Jenkins hadn't told them much about Glossaryck, just really that he had existed. Whenever they tried to bring him up, he pretended not to listen. Both of them figured that he once had a bad experience with him, or just plain didn't like him.

Jenkins sighed. "He was a mentor to the Butterfly family. He basically trained all the princesses in magic. He was honestly kind of a weird teacher, sometimes not really being helpful when you needed it, as well as talking about everything in riddles and stuff. Although I guess when you're as old as the universe, you tend to become pretty aloof about things."

"As old as the universe?"

"Yep. I think he was the first being to ever come into existence."

"So, was he like...God?"

Jenkins smiled. "No. He wasn't. God is something that is completely omnipotent. While he was powerful, he was still far from omnipotent."

"But you said he was the first being to come into existence. You think someone like that would be all powerful."

"In this universe, yes. The entire omniverse, no. That's somebody else. That person would be God, if anything."

"And have you ever met this omniversal God?"

Jenkins suddenly stopped smiling. His eyes were no longer staring at the tapestry. In fact, it seemed like they were staring at nothing at all.

"Perhaps." He said this in a deadpan voice, completely devoid of all emotion.

Meteora looked up at him in surprise.

He started to walk away, then stopped.

"But whoever I met certainly didn't look anything like anything like a god."

Meteora wanted to ask him more about this, but she could tell by his tone and his look that it would likely not be a wise idea. She stared back at the tapestry. Back to her mother and father.

She hoped she would see them again. "I'll find you guys." She whispered, too quiet for anyone else to hear.

"I promise."

She turned away and continued looking at the other tapestries.

Finally, after a few more minutes, they all left the tapestry room, having satisfied their curiosity for it. They continued moving through the halls, but there was nothing really of interest left.

Then Meteora heard something. It sounded like a faint flapping noise. Then more flapping. She looked around. She didn't see anyone.

Jenkins and Mariposa noticed she had stopped.

Mariposa looked back at her.

"What's wrong?"

"I...heard something. I think it sounded like flapping."

Jenkins looked confused at this. "Flapping?"

"Yeah."

He looked around. Carefully eyeing every corner, every place where somebody could hide. He saw nothing. He grabbed the machete that he had gotten back at Janna's hideout.

"Alright. Get out your knives. But keep going. If you hear anything else, tell me. I would rather not get attacked by a swarm of angry pigeons."

Meteora did a slight double take.

"Pigeons? Why pigeons?"

Jenkins then remembered that he had never told her anything about Rich pigeon, due to him being kind of unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

"Yeah, I have a hunch about who we're dealing with here."

"Pigeons?"

"I'll explain later."

"No, I really want to hear this."

He sighed. "Alright, so there was this guy named Rich pigeon, and he-"

Then they all heard an unfamiliar voice from behind them. "Um, Excuse me."

Jenkins instincts kicked in, and, not even bothering to check who it was, he quickly turned around, grabbed the figure that was standing behind them, and slammed them against the wall. He did this all so fast he didn't even see who it was at first. Then he saw who it was.

It was a monster. A shirt, light purple monster with two white horns and wings. He recognized that person. But before he could speak, the monster spoke themselves.

"Please don't kill me! I was just...sent to check you guys out."

Jenkins eyes narrowed. "I know you. You're Archibald, aren't you? That guy who served Eclipsa or something?"

Mariposa looked at the monster in surprise. "Archibald? You know this guy?"

"Yeah. He was one of Eclipsa's servants. I remember him because one of the times I was visiting her to discuss treaties and crap, he spilled a bunch of drinks on me."

"Yes." Archibald said in reply to this. "And I'm sorry for that. Could you please let me go now?"

"No. I want to know a few things."

"A few things? Such as what?"

"Why are you following us and how did you get here?"

"Could you let me go so I can tell you?"

"No. Not until I determine whether you're a threat or not."

"Do you really think I'm threatening? Me?!"

"Looks can be deceiving."

Jenkins machete tightened in his hand. He was ready to kill him if he needed to, although he did have a point. Unlike Janna, the odds of someone like Archibald being a threat was almost zero, even after 15 years.

But he had to be sure. "Alright. Why did you follow us here?"

Archibald took a deep breath. "I...was sent here to see if you guys were a threat. I do this for everybody that enters the city."

Jenkins started at him, directly into his eyes. He could tell a lot from somebody's eyes, especially if they were lying. He kept staring, waiting for a flinch, a quick look to the side, a change in his pupils, anything that might tell him he was lying.

He saw none of it.

"Alright then." He let go of him, and Archibald dropped to the floor.

"Wait." Mariposa said. "We're gonna trust him? Just like that?"

"Yes. I believe him. He's not a threat."

"Janna didn't seem like a threat at first either."

"Yeah well," Jenkins looked at Archibald. "Janna actually had the possibility of being a threat, but this guy?" He took a deep breath. "Nope. I just don't see it."

Archibald looked offended at this. "Hey!"

Jenkins looked back at him. "You know it's true. Now, you're gonna answer my other questions."

Archibald started flapping his wings and hovered in the air.

"Actually, I have to ask you some questions."

"Some questions? Why?"

"To see if I can let you in."

"To where?"

"The underworld."

Jenkins was surprised. Archibald lived in the underworld? And what did he mean by "see if I can let you in?" Were there others living there? He did say he was sent here. But that also meant that the portal in the forest of certain death worked. Which confirmed that Janna wasn't the only one with magic.

Wait, if portals to other dimensions still worked, did that mean they could somehow escape Earthni? Go to a better dimension? Or better yet, perhaps they could travel to an alternate reality where none of this had ever happened. Go back to how it was, peaceful, with no bombs, no apocalypse, no evil magic Janna, and no Seth.

The possibilities were endless.

But he was getting ahead of himself. He still didn't know how to use any magic, and the underworld was more of a sub-dimension than a completely separate one. Traveling to it was easier than going to a different dimension, much less a completely different reality. So he would listen to whatever questions Archibald was asking him. If there was a possibility that this would get them to the underworld, then they couldn't pass up that chance. They needed Information. About magic, about Janna, and about Meteora's dream that she had been talking about earlier. He had almost forgotten about that.

He would have to answer Archibald's question. They had to get into the underworld.

"Alright. Ask your questions."

Meteora and Mariposa stared at him in surprise. They hadn't expected him to agree to this. They weren't sure if they would have agreed to it themselves.

Archibald also seemed slightly surprised, but he shrugged it off and started talking.

"Alright, so I'm gonna ask you some things to determine if you are a threat or not."

Jenkins rolled his eyes. They could definitely be a threat, if Archibald made them one.

"First question, how many people have you encountered?"

He thought about this. That was a high number, but most of the confrontations with other people did not end well.

"A lot."

"Okay. Umm…do you have an exact number?"

"At least above 40."

"That's quite a bit. Alright, do you have any weapons with you?"

Jenkins looked at Meteora and Mariposa, who nodded. They all took out their knives.

"Just a few knives, and a machete."

"Okay, not very many weapons, that's good. Next question, how did you feel about the merge of the two worlds?"

"Why would you want to know that?"

"We want to make sure we don't have any monster or Mewman haters entering the underworld. The new world shouldn't be built in hate. We're trying to build a better world."

"Okay. I was actually pretty mad at first, but I got used to it."

"And why were you mad at first?"

"Because It was my job to make sure that that sort of stuff didn't happen."

"Your...job?"

"Yes."

Archibald looked at him from head to toe, as if seeing him for the first time.

"So, you were part of the E.D.F.?"

"Yes. I was actually the leader." He then mumbled, "Kind of surprised you didn't recognize me from the last time we met."

Nobody said anything. Archibald has a shocked expression on his face, and it felt like a time bomb was about to go off.

"Is it a problem that I was part of the E.D.F.?"

"No, no. It's just that we haven't seen any of you guys before, much less the leader. We thought you were all dead."

Jenkins sighed. "We very well may be. I would not be surprised if I was the only one left. I think most of us died in Seth's attack on our base."

Archibald cocked his head at this. "Seth's attack on your base? What are you talking about?"

"Hmm. Forgot that hardly anyone knows about that. Just keep going with your questions."

"Okay then. Now, for the final question."

Final question? That was it? There were only four questions? Seemed like kind of a low number, although Jenkins was sure that they probably had more questions waiting for them in the Underworld. This couldn't be it.

"This is really the one that will decide whether you can get in or not. How many people have you killed?"

Jenkins looked at Meteora and Mariposa, who were giving the exact same look. The answer to this question was not a good one. So many people had tried to steal from them, or kill them, or other things. They had to kill them, as he could not handle the possibility that they could come back later for revenge. If it was a rule that they weren't allowed into the underworld if they had killed anybody, then they would never get it. But he couldn't lie. Jenkins figures that Archibald had likely done this countless times, and he could tell when someone was lying.

"A little above 20, I think."

"You killed half the people you met?"

"Most of them weren't particularly friendly."

"Okay, And how many were in self-defense?"

"All of them."

"Well, good. You can follow me." He said this as if he was some person's secretary leading them to a meeting.

"You're taking us to the underworld? After how many people we said we killed?"

"Please. That amount is actually very low compared to some people that I've seen. And since it was all in self-defense anyways, you can get it. If you had killed them because you were trying to steal from them or just for the sake of killing them, then we would have a problem. So the answers you gave me are satisfactory. You're not really a threat. And besides, even if you were, you would likely be killed the second you went down there. We have guards everywhere."

He started flying away, and all three of them looked at each other and then started following him.

Mariposa asked him a question. She had been thinking about it ever since she had seen him.

"How did you survive?"

"That's a long story."

"Can you tell us?"

"I guess. But like I said, it's a bit long."

"Trust me, however long it is, we've heard a story that was longer."

"Alright. All the servants were still in the castle that night. Well, nobody really knew what was happening at first. Since we didn't have those phones or whatever they were called, we didn't know about the bombs. All we did was look out from the monster temple and see the city in complete chaos. Everybody was running, stealing, or just plain being crazy. We had no idea what was going on. Then we saw something in the sky, and...boom. Luckily the temple was a good distance away from the blast, so it wasn't too damaged. But then it turned into chaos. We were all terrified. We had no idea what had just happened, all we knew was that the town was now mostly nonexistent and everybody was likely dead. We hadn't been informed about Earth weaponry. So we grabbed everything we could, left the temple, and then started looking for anybody."

Meteora was confused at all of this. They had all survived? The monster temple had been in good shape, considering what it had been through, but there were still things on the inside that was obviously the work of the blast or other things. He had also left a factor out that had it have come into play.

"You just left the temple? What about the radiation?"

"Oh, we didn't know about that either. But we would later. But the worst part at first was the people. So many of them had survived. Miraculously. But really, the lucky ones were simply incinerated instantly in the blast. The rest of them survived, although none of them could really be described as "alive."

Jenkins shifted. He knew what Archibald and everybody from the temple had seen. He had seen plenty of it as well. He was pretty sure that before he stopped remembering his dreams, his nightmares were all of the first few days, seeing people like that.

Archibald continued. "They were simply beyond saving, and although we wanted to help them, we knew we couldn't. I can still remember them. Their layers of skin burned away, their bones exposed, having been blacked by the heat. Even worse were the ones who couldn't even move. I can still hear them, a few were even begging us to kill them. I can only imagine what they were going through. I couldn't believe a body could be so damaged, so hurt, and yet still be alive."

Mariposa looked slightly horrified at these descriptions. She had seen none of this, the worst had been in the first few years, when she wasn't even old enough to remember what had happened.

"How many of you were left?"

"A few dozen. All of us were searching for Eclipsa and Globgor. We knew she said she had gone to a party, but we didn't know which house. But it didn't matter, all the houses had been destroyed anyways. Then came the radiation. We hadn't known. At first it seemed like people were sick, but then it got worse. The radiation burns was what really tipped us off that we needed to leave. That there was something in the air. But it was too late. There had already been too much exposure."

"What happened to you next?"

"Long story short, the radiation killed half of us. We tried to go inside to the few buildings that were left, as we thought that maybe it was only the outside air. It didn't work. Nobody was really safe."

"Why didn't you leave the city?"

"Everybody wanted to stay there, even if it was destroyed. They thought that we would be saved, that Eclipsa and Globgor would come to save us. Obviously, that never happened."

"How did you survive?"

"I don't know why, but some of us, including myself, were immune to the radiation. I assume it has something to do with us being monsters, but I can't be sure. We just...weren't affected. Everybody that was affected by it died. It had been too long, and we didn't know how to treat them. That was probably the worst day of my life."

He stopped moving forward. But nobody asked him what was wrong. Nobody asked him if they could keep moving forward. Jenkins could almost see tears forming in his eyes. He could only partially imagine what it was like, being attacked by an invisible enemy you knew nothing about, your friends dying and you couldn't do anything.

But that was the end of the world. Nothing was pleasant. There were no adventures or anything like that to be had out here. Just pain and suffering and betrayal and death. That was how the world worked.

Archibald kept floating in the air for a minute, then continued forward and kept talking.

"And then we started to starve. All the food and water had either been destroyed or taken by people leaving the town. We kept searching for something, anything. But there was none. So we got desperate. We went into the first of certain death looking for something that could help us. We figured this was our last chance. If it didn't work, then we would probably have to start eating each other. And even then we weren't sure we could do that.

But then, we found it. That portal. That secret portal to the underworld. We all went in it . We weren't sure how it was there, due to the fact that we thought magic was destroyed. The Underworld was completely unaffected, thankfully, due to being underground. It's unfortunate really. If we had known about it being there, we could have saved so many more people. In fact, we might have been able to save everyone!"

Jenkins suddenly felt an immense feeling of regret for not going to check if the portal was still there after the merge. He was right, everybody could have been saved, if they had known that was there. He should have checked. He was about to berate himself more, but Archibald continued talking.

"And we roamed the Underworld for a while, and we found the Lucitor castle. We told them what had happened, and they let us in. And the next 10 years is just staying down there, living among literal demons, although we were still tormented by our own. Although we were immune to the radiation, we still didn't go back through the portal. We knew there was no real point in going back up there. So we just spent years then more people started arriving through the portal. And we took them in too. We learned from a couple of humans who had arrived what the bombs were, and what the radiation was. We also learned that by now, the radiation had gone down. So we made the Underworld a sanctuary. A safe place where people could go. Where all could stay in peace. We even put up a couple near the city, telling visitors where to go."

"We didn't see any signs." Jenkins said. "There were none, near the city or otherwise."

"What? Really?" Archibald said in surprise. He then huffed. "Hm. Someone must have taken them down. I can't imagine who though. It has to be someone else near Echo creek. Why would they do that?"

Someone else near Echo creek? Jenkins, Meteora, and Mariposa all simultaneously exchanged glances..

"I can think of someone…" Jenkins mumbled.

Archibald seemed to ignore this. "And the rest is history. That's how we got to where we are now. We have a few sensors in the Underworld telling us when someone enters the town, and that's how we knew you were here. And it's my job to meet new people and see if they are alright."

"What would you have done if we weren't alright? What if we had failed those questions earlier?"

"I would have left you alone and been on my way.

"And if we didn't let you?"

"Well then, I would have probably called for help."

All of them had no idea how he would accomplish this. He didn't seem to have any communication devices on him. At least none that were visible.

"Now, let's keep going."

They all continued walking in silence. They had left the castle a few minutes into his story, and now the "forest" of certain death was in sight. They entered and walked past the countless burned and destroyed trees until they came upon it. It was a portal. But it looked off. It was pitch black, not how one would expect a portal to the underworld to look. Jenkins was wondering if this was a trap.

"Alright." Archibald started. "Just step through and we'll continue going on our way."

"You go through first."

"...Alright."

He flew through and disappeared.

Jenkins looked at Meteora and Mariposa.

"Are you guys ready?"

"Not really." Meteora responded.

"Yeah, me neither. But I don't think we really have a choice. This is the best chance we have."

They all stared at the portal, nodded at each other, and stepped through, hoping that Archibald was telling them the truth.

**End chapter 9**

**A/N: Surprise. It wasn't Tom, in case anyone was wondering. It's the character who doesn't even have his own page on the wiki that nobody but me probably remembers.**

**Thanks for reading as always and please leave a review or PM me if you have any questions or comments.**


	10. Chapter 10: Into the Underworld

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 10**

**Into the Underworld**

Who knew what was waiting for them behind that portal. A trap? An ambush? An army waiting to kill them? Archibald had said that he would call for help if they were a threat. They didn't know how he intended to do that. Maybe he had alerted somebody and he had tricked them into coming down here. He had been with literal demons for 15 years after all. Hopefully they hadn't changed him.

Luckily, they found none of it.

They stepped through. It had been so long since Jenkins had used a dimensional portal. The feeling of instantly going from one place to another suddenly became new again. As for Meteora and Mariposa, they weren't familiar with the sensation at all. It would take some getting used to on their part. They might be doing this a lot soon.

It was exactly what Archibald has described. He was waiting on the other side of the portal, and they looked around in awe at the surrounding landscape.

It was the Underworld.

Both Meteora and Mariposa were transfixed at the sight before them. They had never seen anything like it. For starters, there wasn't even a sky, just a giant rocky ceiling maybe a couple hundred feet off the ground. The surrounding landscape was also extremely rocky, with giant stalactites and stalagmites covering everything. It was an entirely new world. Yet due to all the fire and and inhospitable land around them, it seemed oddly familiar.

But they didn't see anyone else. Odd. Archibald had said that they had guards everywhere, but there were none here. Perhaps he was lying? But that didn't make sense. He had said that after he said that they were good to go into the Underworld. It wouldn't make sense for him to lie about that after he said he would take them there.

"So...shouldn't there be any guards? You said you had them everywhere." Meteora said. She seemed just as confused as Jenkins, searching the area for them.

Archibald also seemed confused. "Yeah, um, they should be here. I don't know where they would have gone. This is strange. They should always be here. No matter what. Not guarding this portal can literally lead to a death sentence."

Well, this was just great. They had just arrived in the Underworld, which Archibald had called a "sanctuary." A "place of peace." But a few seconds after arriving and things were already going wrong. As per usual. There were no signs of any fighting though. Or that any guards had even been there in the first place.

"Well, I'll figure that out later." Archibald said. "But for now, let's head to the castle. Quickly."

He started flying forward again. Jenkins didn't really want to go forward. Archibald shrugged the guards off being gone as nothing, as if they had simply taken a break or something equally boring. It could be that, or it could be something else. Such as, somebody could have found the portal and killed the guards. Or worse.

Although, Archibald did seem slightly worried. Jenkins noticed he was sweating, and he appeared to be slightly shaking as well. But there was no way he was shaking out of being cold. They were literally in the magic equivalent of hell. He was shaking out of fear. He knew something. And whatever he knew, It was probably related to the guards not being there.

Oh God. Another thought came to his mind. What if Janna and her priests followed them? She had already shown that she wasn't done with them, due to what happened on the mountain with the visions, and she likely wouldn't give up that easily. If she had found this place by following them, then everything could go to hell, no pun intended.

Jenkins had to come up with a plan. If Janna wasn't here now, then that was good news for everybody. Assuming the guards had just left, then Jenkins and the others would then go to the castle, find whoever was in charge, and then warn them about Janna. It's possible they already knew, as she was the leader of the only other group in the area, (at least the only other group that Jenkins knew about), but it was likely they didn't know she had magic, so he would have to tell them about that. After that he would have to get some answers to his questions. Has the Underworld seen or heard of any more of his friends? Star, Marco, Eclipsa, Globgor, Moon, anybody else? If they knew, great. If by some chance they were already in the Underworld, even more great.

But if they didn't know, then they would move on. To more questions. The Underworld has a vast library full of countless pages of books full of the history of magic and other things. Maybe there was an answer in one of the books. He would have to find out how Janna used magic and how they could maybe use it. If Janna could wield magic, that meant anybody should be able to use magic. Emphasis on the should. After that, he would get answers to the final thing that was at the back of his mind. That was the voice that Meteora was talking about. The one that plagued her in her sleep apparently. He had a few ideas about who it could be, none of them good. Janna? No, why would Janna tell Meteora about magic still existing? That wouldn't be in her favor. It didn't make any sense. Lythol? No, if Lythol was involved then they would all be dead already. Some random magic user out in the world? Probably the most likely option. Maybe if Meteora could go to sleep again and try talking to that voice. Try to gain information from it.

That settled it. That was the plan. After all the questions had been answered, after all the mysteries had been solved, they would be done there. They would get as many supplies as they could, leave the Underworld and keep moving forward. They couldn't stay there forever. They still had people to find, to get back to. And Jenkins didn't want to depend on the possibility that they would find the portal to the Underworld as well.

So they continued moving through the Underworld, passing the same landscape over and over. It almost felt like walking in circles. Just how big was this place?

Then they passed a particularly large stalagmite. It was much bigger than any one Jenkins had seen on Earth. Was there once water in the Underworld? It seemed like there would have to be, considering the size of some of those things. Then he noticed something else on it.

Jenkins wasn't an expert on rocks, but he was sure that a giant red splatter was not supposed to be there. Meteora noticed this and spoke up before he could.

"Hey um, Archibald, what's with the giant red mark on that one?"

Archibald looked over at it and his eyes widened.

"That's...not supposed to be there. That wasn't there before." He then slowly started flying over to it.

'Oh, we're about to get ambushed.' Jenkins thought. He also started moving towards the mark, and then Meteora and Mariposa followed him. They reached the stalagmite, and Jenkins rubbed his hand on the mark.

"Okay. That's blood. Fresh blood too."

"How do you know?"

"Touch blood enough times and you eventually recognize exactly how it feels. Plus, it's a giant red stain. 9 out of 10 times a mysterious giant red stain appears, its blood. It's just one of those unspoken rules. But we should probably get out of here, because I don't want to find out who made this stain appear."

"Uh, guys?"

They all turned towards the sound of the voice. It was on the other side of the stalagmite, which Mariposa had just walked over to. They all went around it and then stepped back as they saw what she saw.

It was a bunch of bodies. All of them were demons, and all of them were missing their heads for some reason.

Archibald immediately turned away towards the others. "We have to go to the castle, now. I've seen this before."

"You have? Who did this?"

"I'll explain later! But for now, we have to-"

"LOOK OUT!"

Archibald turned around to see a giant axe coming his way. He quickly ducked and the axe missed. It slammed into the stalagmite, leaving a giant crack.

They all stared at the attacker. It was a giant demon. At least 9 feet, with giant armor covering most of its body. They could only see part of its hand and face, which two yellow eyes stared through at them.

Jenkins started backing away. How did that thing sneak up on them like that? Where did it come from? Didn't matter, time to figure out a way to fight it. He quickly studied the demon, its armor, its weapon, and he made a conclusion.

"Okay. We can't fight that. RUN!"

They were about to, but then they heard a footstep behind them and turned. It was another demon. Completely identical to the first one. This one carried a giant hammer. It swung at them with surprising speed, and they all attempted to dodge it. Jenkins and Mariposa managed to get out of the way, but Meteora didn't. It slammed into her and sent her flying through the air. She flew into the stalagmite, slammed the back of her head against it, heard a loud CRACK, and then she fell to the ground, unconscious.

.

.

.

"I told you not to trust Janna."

Meteora groggily opened her eyes and slowly got up off the ground. She slowly looked around. There was nobody else around, and the area seemed darker than it was before that hammer hit her. She sighed.

"Alright, What do you want now?"

"Same thing I always want. Just to talk to you."

"I don't think I really have time for this. Did you see those two demons? They were huge! Jenkins and Mariposa need me so I can help them fight those things. End this dream and talk to me later!"

"You know that even with you there, there is no chance that you will be able to defeat those two."

"I know. But I still have to help them. If they die, and I live because those demons already think I'm dead, then I won't be able to move on. I need their help, and they need mine."

"I'm sure they'll be fine...probably. And besides, even if they did think you were dead, they would still just cut your head off, as you saw with that pile back there."

Meteora's mind then darted back to the pile of bodies and the giant red stain on the side of the rock. Or stalag-something. Whatever it was called. It didn't matter.

"Yeah, What was with the whole head thing anyways?"

"Archibald can tell you when you wake up. That's for him to explain. He probably should have told you earlier. But I must say, it was one stroke of luck just finding him like that. Without him, you would have gone to the portal without an escort, and you likely would have been killed by the guards that were there."

"Um, the guards that were at that portal are all dead."

"They were killed while Archibald was asking all those questions and whatnot. Now, as I was saying earlier, I told you not to trust Janna."

Meteora's eyes narrowed. That was exactly what she thought this voice would say. She wondered if it had done that on purpose. Could it read her mind? Was it constantly in her head at all times, listening to everything she thought about? She would try and figure that out later. For now, she should just keep the conversation going. Away from any topics that might end badly.

"Yeah, well, as you saw, everybody had some trust issues with Janna."

"I know. That chair smash was the best thing I've seen in awhile. I'm impressed by your sister. You, on the other hand...not so much. You literally sat on the floor for an hour and did nothing."

"I was trying to think of a plan! It wasn't easy."

"Smashing a chair over someone's head is pretty easy. You could have just hidden behind the door while it opened. It was, after all, the type of door that swung inwards."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to see if there was a way that didn't include violence. I still wanted to see if you were wrong about Janna."

"Tch. Keep up with the times. Nowadays, violence is to people what air is to you. It's practically the law now."

"…"

"No answer to that? You know, I think that-"

"Who are you?"

"Hmm?"

"I said, who are you? I'm tired of this. If you are going to keep me in...wherever this is, then I deserve to know who you are if I have to talk to you."

"I'm afraid you wouldn't really know who I am. If I said the name, It would mean nothing to you. Just an unfamiliar word. An unfamiliar name."

"Then why are you really doing this? You have to have a better goal than just wanting to talk. I remember the first time we met, after I fell asleep at the camp, you said...you said…um."

"Is something the matter?"

"I...can't really remember much from the first time we talked. Wait, why can't I remember anything?"

"Who knows. You did just get slammed head first into a giant rock. It might have altered your memories. Done some brain damage." The voice attempted to say this in a helpful tone, but Meteora thought she could detect the slightest hint of satisfaction on the edge of its voice, as if the voice was expecting her to lose her memories.

"Then what happened?"

"I told you back then that I was a friend. That I wanted to help you. You were going to need help, so I offered it."

"I...feel like that's the opposite of what you would say. I don't remember you saying any of that."

"And what do you remember me saying?"

She paused.

"Well?"

"I don't remember anything that you said to me."

"Unfortunate. Well, as we go along, perhaps I can fill in the blanks."

"Yeah. Sure. Now, what else do you want to say?"

"Well, I did come to warn you about something."

"What's that?"

"Janna is not the only enemy you will face in the coming weeks."

"Great. Then who else will be an enemy?"

"You will have enemies in the Underworld, as you saw with those demons. Their leader will stop at nothing to kill you."

"Who's their leader?"

"I can't really tell you."

"Why not?! If you're trying to help me, you're doing a pretty bad job at it."

"If I tell you, then things could not play out how I think they will play out. And I need them to play out a specific way."

"Because let me guess. You have plans to take over the world or something. Or possess me and take control of my body. Or try and bring back magic or something! And I know that you're not a spirit or a ghost or some kind of entity. Jenkins told me that you're just some person who cast a spell so you communicate with me in my sleep! I know you're out in the world somewhere."

"If Jenkins understood half of what he was talking about, then he would be the smartest person in the universe. I am not some measly magic user. And as for those plans you said I have, it's nothing like that. I have no desire to rule this world. I already have enough. I am better than that. But I do want to help you. Now...will you let me?"

"And how would you help me?"

"We would talk often, I would give you advice, tell you what might be coming, or who might be coming. And perhaps you can even eventually regain the memories of our first meeting, so you can see that I'm telling the truth. All I want you to say is that you'll accept my help."

Meteora didn't know what to say. It said it was a friend. That it wanted to help her. At least, that's what it had said. She wasn't sure if that's exactly what had happened. But it was right. She could use help. And maybe she could get her memories of her first meeting with this thing back, so she could see if it was telling the truth.

"Okay. I accept your help."

"Excellent. You will not regret this."

Just like her the last time she had met it, a bright light suddenly filled the area, and she closed her eyes to cover them.

Once she opened them again, Meteora could could see that she was being carried on someone's back. It was Jenkins, he was carrying her, and he was running a lot faster than Meteora had ever seen him run. Mariposa was beside him, clutching her left arm, which Meteora noticed was covered in blood. As for Archibald, he was slightly behind them, running as well. Meteora wondered why he wasn't flying, but then she noticed that one of his wings seemed bent and broken. The two giant demons must have damaged it.

Speaking of which, where were they? She lifted her head slightly to look further behind them, but she felt a searing pain, similar to a headache, but ten times worse. She then noticed that her nose was bleeding as well. She hoped that hit against the rock didn't do any permanent damage. She attempted to ignore the pain and looked behind them. The two demons were chasing them, their footsteps sounding like thunder against the ground. Luckily, their armor seemed to be slowing them down greatly, otherwise they probably would have caught up to them in seconds.

She immediately started speaking.

"Hey, Jenkins! Can you put me down?!"

"Meteora?! Oh thank god! I was worried that you were dead!"

She was worried that she might be soon. Although she didn't see any blood coming out of it, she felt like her skull had just been shattered. And that voice did say it might have done some brain damage.

"Well, I'm not, can you put me down?"

"Can't. We're almost to Lucitor castle! Just a little further and we'll make it!"

"Lucitor castle?" She asked, but Jenkins didn't answer her.

The two demons were catching up, and Archibald was starting to slow down. Finally, a huge castle came into view.

"OPEN THE GATE!" Archibald screamed at the top of his lungs. "OPEN THE GATE!"

Somebody apparently heard them and the huge metal doors started to open.

"Come on," Jenkins huffed. "Just a little further…"

They all put on one final burst of speed and sprinted into the open doors, which quickly closed behind them. The two demons caught up and started to hit the door with their weapons, but all they did was slightly budge them. The hammering stopped and they presumably went away. They were safe.

Jenkins took Meteora off his shoulder and set her on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Mariposa still clutched her arm, which continued to bleed. Meteora didn't even see a wound on it though.

"Archibald," Jenkins started. "Who were they, and why were they trying to kill us?"

Archibald sat on the ground and spoke up, occasionally pausing to take a breath.

"There are some...who believe...that we should not be allowed...to stay in the Underworld. They believe it is...for demons only. They killed those guards back there for allying themselves with us. They saw them as traitors."

"So they're some kind of evil demon terrorists?"

"Call them what you like, but they are completely and utterly devoted to killing us. And they have killed many of us."

"Okay, but why were those bodies all missing heads?"

"They believe that traitors do not even deserve a face that you can recognize them by. They cut off the heads and throw them into the lava lake, where they can never be found."

"If they don't deserve a face, then why don't they just cut off the face?"

"It's kinda hard to cleanly cut someone's face off with a giant axe."

"Great. Can't wait for that to happen to us."

"Don't worry. We're safe in the castle. They've tried to break into here many times and have always failed. Now, i'll take us to one of our doctors, and then we'll meet the greeting committee."

'And then.' Jenkins thought, 'We can find the answers we're looking for.'

**End chapter 10**

**A/N: Well, a few things happened this chapter. The Underworld was finally introduced, Jenkins seemingly already has the next few chapters planned out (at least in his own way), the unknown voice pays a visit for the third time and Meteora (mysteriously?) loses part of her memories. That and a new enemy to fight in the future.**

**As always, thanks for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	11. Chapter 11: Questions for a king

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 11**

**Questions for a king**

"So, that makes one broken wing, a mild laceration in a left arm, a small hand wound, and a skull fracture. Yeah, I think that about covers it. Oh yeah, and a nose bleed."

Jenkins, Meteora, Mariposa, and Archibald were sitting in Lucitor castle's "infirmary". This was being fairly generous though, as the only real medical things they saw was the doctor himself, a few tools, and a couple of bandages and casts. The rest was just a small room with a few chairs and a table. The doctor had just spent 1 hour inspecting them, seemingly pulling information about their injuries out of nowhere. He had just finished putting a bandage on Mariposa and Jenkins wounds, and then putting some kind of giant cast on Archibald's wing. Jenkins looked at Meteora.

"So, is she gonna be alright?" Jenkins asked. He wasn't sure how bad her fracture was, or if she received brain damage. She seemed to be able to walk and talk just fine though, so It seemed like there wasn't any permanent damage.

"Oh yes." The doctor answered. "She'll be fine. It's a linear fracture, so there is no real permanent damage. It'll heal up in the next week or so. Just don't let her get any more head injuries."

Jenkins sighed in relief. Good. Everything was alright. Well, almost alright. They were all still hurt in one way or another, and it would probably be best if they stayed in the Underworld until they all healed completely. But that was a good thing. They had plenty of time to figure things out and plan ahead while they were there.

Then again, this all depended on what happened next. Archibald has said that there would be a greeting committee, and Jenkins hoped that they wouldn't be displeased once he told them they weren't planning on staying here forever. They were going to stay here and heal, then find out what they needed to know, get some supplies, then get out. As much as Jenkins secretly wanted to just stay here and never go back to the surface, he couldn't. And besides, due to the giant demons that Jenkins had seen earlier, and with Archibald talking about them being unhappy with the people from Earthni staying there, the Underworld was probably about to get involved in a civil war. And he did not want to be down here when that happened.

The doctor left the room without saying anything else. All in all, the strangest part about the whole experience was that the doctor was human. And he seemed completely used to everything around him. Jenkins wondered how many people were in the castle. He also wondered why the Lucitors had just allowed them to be let in. Unless the Lucitors weren't in power anymore…

"Archibald."

"Yeah?"

"Who's in charge around here? Who's the leader?"

"That would be King Dave and Queen Wraithmelior Lucitor. They've ruled here since before we even arrived. They're in charge."

The Lucitors were still in charge? Interesting. Jenkins thought that they might have given up the throne or done something else after they were trapped off from all other dimensions and after Tom disappeared. That or someone else would have forcefully taken power. Jenkins only met them once, and they seemed nice enough, so there wasn't any disdain between them. Hopefully Jenkins could meet them, (assuming they weren't part of the "greeting committee", which he suspected they were) and explain their situation with the magic and Janna.

He also hoped that the meeting with leaders of this group didn't end up the same way as the last group.

He did have a few more questions for Archibald though. If they were going to stay in the Underworld and the castle for a while, then he wanted to know how this place worked.

"Archibald, can I ask you a few questions?"

Archibald, who was seemingly attempting to move his cast in a more comfortable position, heard and nodded without even looking at him.

"Okay. How does the Underworld work?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you said his place is like a sanctuary, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, how does it work? Do people just come here and get food, do they stay here, or it is something else."

"After the war-"

"There wasn't a war."

"What do you mean? The humans that came down here told me that the nukes had likely been launched because of a war."

"What happened with those nukes wasn't a war. It was a slaughter. Attempted genocide. There was no war. Just an evil lizard."

"Who do you mean?"

"Seth of septaris. He stormed the E.D.F.'s headquarters, took control of the nuclear system, and blew up everything. No war. Just Seth."

Archibald looked shocked, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Jenkins remembered that he, Meteora, Mariposa, everyone else from the party, and Seth himself were really the only ones alive who knew this fact. It must have been hard to believe in one thing only to be told it was all a lie.

"Seth? That lizard guy that Eclipsa told us to look out for? She told us he broke free from some kind of crystal prison, and that he might be coming to the city, so she told us to keep an eye out for him."

"Well, he broke out of two prisons. The second time though, we kept it out of the public eye so there would be a mass panic or anything like that."

"Maybe you shouldn't have done that. People might have found him."

"Yeah. We shouldn't…"

He shook his head. "Now, for my questions. Like I said, how does this place work. If we stay here, will we get food? Water? Is there some kind of system?"

"Yes there is. We all do our jobs around the castle and we get paid in food and water and other things. We all sleep in the dungeons, which have been converted to be more comfortable and to accommodate all of us. We help out around the castle, do random things, or sometimes just do whatever. But we do get taken care of. Although sometimes I believe it's out of pity more than care for us."

"Why?"

"Well, how would you feel towards a bunch of starving️, injured, and sick people came to your home one day asking you for help?"

"I would feel sorry for them and help them."

"Yes. But that is not the attitude demons have. I honestly think it pleases them to know that the only reason we're alive is because of us, and due to that fact they keep us alive down here."

"Okay, if that is true, then that is horrible."

"Yeah, well, we have no other choice. We don't know where else to go. According to the stories from people who arrived here, there's not really that much left in the real world. Maybe a few small communities, but not that many. It's mostly just murderous gangs of people prowling around, killing and stealing whatever they can."

"...You just described almost every single person we found in the last 15 years."

Archibald's head dropped and he suddenly got a look of discouragement. "So it's true. There's nothing left out there."

Jenkins couldn't have this. Although he hardly knew Archibald, the last thing he wanted was for Archibald's sudden hopelessness to spread around to other people. Losing hope was the first step in never rebuilding a better world.

"Not true. It is quite possible there are still people out there. Actually good people who want to help others. I mean, how about all the people that found the portal and you guys took in?"

"Well...I suppose you're right. Still though, I do wonder how many "good" people are left out there."

"However many there are, I'm sure they'll all accomplish a step in rebuilding this world. That's what you said the Underworld was trying to do right? Rebuild?"

"Well, it's still kinda in the planning stage…"

Jenkins sighed. Time to talk about something else.

"So, What will happen to us when we meet this greeting committee or whatever you call it?"

"Well, they'll probably ask you a few questions, and these ones will be much more personal than the ones I asked you. They will find out where you could be of use."

"Be of use?"

"Around the castle. We do live here, and we work here. I mean, you are planning on staying, right?"

"No. No, we're not."

"But why not?"

"While it may come as a shock, we still have things to do. We're looking for people, and I intend to find them. We're gonna stay here until we heal these wounds, and then we're gonna leave."

Meteora and Mariposa just stood nearby and listened to this. They weren't sure if they wanted to agree with this plan. While he did have a point, in that they were looking for people, they also didn't want to leave the second they healed their wounds. There could be more to this place. They shouldn't have just one singular goal in mind. They should try and accomplish multiple things.

"But what if the people you're looking for are here, in the Underworld?"

"Well that depends." He took a deep breath. "Do you know the names of every single person that came to the Underworld to his castle?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"Alright, judging by your earlier comments, I take it neither Eclipsa or Globgor are here, correct?"

"Yes, unfortunately. We do not know where that has gone."

"I assumed so. Now, is there anyone here by the names of Rafael or Angie Diaz?"

Archibald pauses for a moment. "Hmmmm...no. No, there isn't ."

Jenkins silently cursed. It was worth a shot, but he knew that it wouldn't be that easy. Where even were they? What had happened to them? His mind started to wander after that car crashed. Wait, what had happened? What did he-

"So, do you plan on doing anything here before you leave?"

Archibald's question ended Jenkins' train of thought. "Oh, I'm planning on looking a few things up. You have a library here, right?"

"Oh yes. It's huge."

"Good. I plan on doing some reading."

Before Archibald could ask him what exactly he meant by that, the doctor suddenly came back into the room.

"Alright, the greeting committee wants to talk to you guys. So, Archibald, take them to the Committee."

Archibald nodded and walked out of the room, signaling for the others to follow him. They all followed Archibald out of the rooms Don walked through the halls of the castle. It was exactly what one would expect a demon castle to look like, with demonic paintings, tapestries, and other things littering the halls.

Jenkins was still wondering how this would all play out. This all depended on what would happen with this "greeting committee". With the way people talked about it…

" Hey Archibald."

"What is it?"

"The greeting committee is just the leaders of this place, right?"

"...How did you know?"

"Well, with the way everybody talked about them, I feel like they're not just some random people that took a job of greeting people."

"We haven't really talked much about them at all."

"It was enough for me to tell."

"Hm. And yes, it's the leaders. The King and queen. They'll meet with you."

"And ask more questions?"

"Yup."

"Great."

They all then walked in silence for a while until they got to what appeared to be some kind of meeting room. The room could be considered less "demonic" than most other rooms in the castle, likely to make new people coming to the castle less uncomfortable. Jenkins suddenly got flashbacks of Janna taking them to her room to talk, and then what happened afterwards. Hopefully it wasn't the same here. At least if they had to escape for some reason, the halls were more recognizable than the ones at Janna's hideout.

They all sat down in rather uncomfortable chairs, and waited. Nobody said a word. They all just started at the doorway, waiting for someone to arrive.

Finally, someone did arrive. It was two demon guards, dressed in similar armor to the ones that had attacked them earlier, only with different colors. They were flanking the King, Dave. Jenkins remembered him. For whatever reason, he married the giant demon Wraithmelior and became King of the Underworld for whatever reason. Not even the weirdest marriage Jenkins had ever seen. But it was just Dave. Wraithmelior was nowhere in sight.

Archibald quickly got up off his chair, strode up straight and bowed. He then signaled to the others to do the same. Meteora and Mariposa slowly got up off their chairs and did the same, while Jenkins remained sitting and just did this little head bow thing.

Dave stepped forward and sat down in his own chair, while Archibald and the others sat down in their own again.

He looked at each of them slowly, as if trying to remember who they were.

Jenkins spoke up, wanting to get this over with.

"Dave-"

"Wait. Give me a minute."

He continued staring at them. They all started back at him with confusion, except for Archibald, who acted as if this was completely normal. Finally he stopped and spoke.

"Sorry about that. I like to know exactly who I'm talking to."

Meteora looked at him like he was mental. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I was trying to recognize all of you."

Jenkins lifted one of his eyebrows. "You know, you could have just asked us, and besides, you've only ever met two of us."

"I know, but I still wanted to try. Now, let's begin. So-"

"Where's the queen?" Jenkins asked.

"Sorry?"

"Wraithmelior. You wife. The queen. Archibald said we'd be meeting both you and her."

"Oh yes. She's currently dealing with...other matters right now. And besides, she wouldn't fit in this room. So it's just me. Now, like Archibald probably told you, I'm going to ask you a few things. I'm going to ask you the questions Jenkins, considering how you appear to be the leader of your little trio."

"So you do remember me."

"Yeah. I don't think we had much interaction though. I honestly found you to be slightly aloof about the Underworlds problems when I told you about them.

"Well, when you have my job, you kinda get tired of hearing people complain about all the crappy things happening to them."

Dave laughed at this. "Ha! Try being a king. Hearing people complain and having to deal with their problems is the whole job."

"Well, it looks like we understand each other."

"Indeed. Now, for my first question, what have you been doing there?"

"Out there? You mean, on the surface?"

"Yeah."

"Umm...surviving. We haven't really done much at all."

"Like I expected. That's basically the answer everybody gives me. I've heard some pretty crazy things from some people."

"Well it's the truth. There isn't really time to do anything. You have to survive and…" Jenkins suddenly stopped talking.

"Is something wrong?"

"I just remembered. Do you have any food or water? We haven't eaten or drank anything in a day."

"Oh yes. After we finish this, you'll get some food and water."

"Thanks. How do you guys get food and water anyways? Do you grow it? We're underground, it should be impossible to grow anything without enough sunlight."

"Oh...the castle had a huge food and water supply in case of a siege from enemies. And I do mean huge. It took up dozens of rooms below the castle. Our ancestors took every precaution. It was meant to last centuries for the royal family and palace staff. We thought it would be best if it was used for a better purpose."

"But there's a lot more people now, isn't there?"

"Yes. The supplies should last roughly...five more years. I think."

"Do...the people living here know that?"

"Yes. But by then, we're hoping that Earthni or whatever it was called is ready to be repopulated. Maybe the soil can be fertile again, and rivers and lakes could be clean."

'Five more years is not nearly long enough." Jenkins thought. 'While some soil should be good for planting, it's going to be hard to find fertile soil and clean water in the same area. Going back to living up there will be far from easy. But I shouldn't tell them that, should I? No. Don't tell them. It's not worth the hassle.' Jenkins just slowly nodded, as if he was agreeing to Dave's plan.

But on the subject if not having food or water, Jenkins hadn't really been bothered by it...yet, but he felt like it was a different story for Meteora and Mariposa. They looked famished.

"Okay, my next question is, what kind of survivors have you encountered?"

"I feel like we already told Archibald some of this stuff. Can't he just tell you?"

"Actually, the question he should have asked before he brought you here is "how many people have you encountered?" Not what kinds of people you encountered. He did ask that right?" Dave's eyes darted over to Archibald, who suddenly looked nervous.

"Yes. Yes, he asked that."

"Ah, Good." He looked away from Archibald, who breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Now, like I asked, what kinds of people have you encountered?"

"Ehh...mostly people that were trying to kill us and take our stuff. We didn't really see many people that could be considered good. Hell, just a day or two ago, we were basically captured and attacked by a bunch of people who called themselves the Black priest that were led by a person that I knew in the past. The worst part was, it that they had magic." Jenkins expected Dave to look surprised at this, but he just nodded his head, as if expecting that response.

"Yes. The Black priests. I have heard a lot of horror stories about them. I believe they are trying to find the entrance to this place. We've sent many of our greatest demon warriors to fight them, to drive them out of that mountain, to get them to leave, but they always overpower us. We always have to fight them on their territory. And with that magic that we have, sometimes we feel as if there's no real chance."

"Do all of them have magic? We only saw their leader use it."

"From what I've heard from other people who have encountered them, only a few of them have magic. Maybe two or three. Which according to you, apparently now includes their leader. I think it is very hard to learn though. We're not exactly sure how they have it."

"Have you tried to find a way to figure it out?"

"Yes. We've tried to use every spell that demons know, even ones that only we can use, but none of them work . We don't know how they do it."

"Have you tried looking at the books in your library? I heard there's tons of information in there."

"We have looked."

"In all of them?"

"Well, not all of them. There's still a few that's left."

"Good." Jenkins whispered to himself. "Then those are the ones we're going to look into."

"Sorry, What did you say?"

"Nothing, now keep going with your questions."

"Alright then. Now, what did you do before the apocalypse?"

"I feel like you should already know that."

"Yeah. You were the leader of the E.D.F. And you two…" He looked towards Meteora and Mariposa. "Judging by how old you look, I'm going to assume you were babies."

They both nodded.

"Unfortunate. That means you never got to experience what the world was like. I mean, I stayed down here once the Underworld was closed off from all other dimensions. Do you remember anything?"

Meteora frowned. "Just bits and pieces. I don't remember much about what happened before the apocalypse or what happened right after. But I sometimes remember other things. It sometimes feels like...past lives? Broken memories?"

"Hmm. What's your name?"

"Meteora."

Dave's eyes widened in shock. "Wait. That means you were the one who-"

"Yes." Jenkins interrupted. "Yes, this is her. But don't be afraid or anything. She's not like that anymore. She doesn't remember any of it."

Dave looked back at her. "My son Tom told me all about you. About what you did during that incident on Mewni. Do you truly remember none of it?"

Meteora leaned back in her chair in annoyance. "I have no idea what either of you are talking about."

Dave turned back to Jenkins. "You never told her?"

"I thought it would be best if she didn't know. Couldn't risk it happening again. Couldn't risk the memories returning and affecting her again."

"Hm. Good decision. But I'm still going to keep an eye on her if you're staying here."

"Well, that's just it…"

"What do you mean?"

"We're not really planning on staying here."

"How so?"

Jenkins took a deep breath and explained everything that had happened over the past few days. With Janna, with her having magic, with the voice Meteora said she heard, with the visions they saw in that mountain, and everything else. Meteora occasionally chimed In to help, but Mariposa stayed silent with a look of uncertainty on her face. Finally, Jenkins got to the point of asking if he could use the Lucitors library to discover more about magic and the mysterious voice.

"So, What do you think?"

Dave contemplated all this for a moment.

"No."

"No?!"

"Yes. No. I don't want you using my library until I'm sure we can trust you. The knowledge in those books are old and dangerous, and I don't want just anybody using them. And besides, I'm not sure my grandfather-in-law Relicor will be happy with you just snooping around in there."

"Well, What can we do to make you and Relicor trust us?"

"Well, for starters-"

Suddenly, a rather large demon ran through the doorway covered in broken armor and wounds.

"My king!" It said, and then it bowed. "I was told to report to you when I returned."

Dave, with the tone in his voice expressing that he was obviously annoyed, responded to this. "I believe your orders were to report to the queen."

"She was the one that ordered me to report to you."

Dave sighed. "Alright, what is it?"

"The infiltration mission into the enemies base has failed completely! They knew we were coming, as we were too big to enter their base without being seen."

'Enemy base? Infiltration mission?' Jenkins thought. 'They must be talking about the demon terrorists or whatever. Too big to enter without being seen, huh?'

"My king, we need someone fast and small to be able to enter the base. We're too big to sneak in."

Dave shook his head. "There are no soldiers like that. Nobody with combat knowledge at least."

Mariposa listened intently to all of this. They needed someone fast and small? Someone that could easily infiltrate someplace? She had an idea. One that would work out for both her group and the Underworld. One where everybody would win.

"Excuse me, King Dave?" She interjected. All eyes suddenly fell on her.

"Yes?"

"Perhaps we could work out some kind of deal…"

**End chapter 11**

**A/N: Hmm, what does Mariposa have planned? I hope the introduction of Dave and the rest of the Underworld was good, along with everything else. The Underworld will probably be the main setting for the next few chapters, not exactly sure how many.**

**Also, the hardest part about writing this chapter was figuring out what to name it. I went through who knows how many options. Who knew that knowing what to call something could be so difficult. I'll probably have to look back on earlier chapters later on when this story reaches higher numbers to make sure I didn't give a new chapter an old title.**

**But as always, enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a comment if you have any comments or questions.**


	12. Chapter 12: What will you become?

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 12**

**What will you become?**

"So, what exactly are you offering me again?" Dave asked.

Mariposa sighed and attempted to explain again. "Okay, so like your demon soldier just said, you need someone to infiltrate your enemies base, right?"

"That is correct."

"Good. Now, they can't infiltrate the base because they said that they are too big and that the enemy sees them. So, here's what I propose. I'm small. I'm fast. And I have...a good amount of combat knowledge that Jenkins taught me. So, I could infiltrate the base for you, do what you want me to do, and in exchange for doing that for you, you will give us access to your library in order to find the information that we're looking for in those books. Deal?"

Dave paused. "One moment." He got up and left the room.

Mariposa looked over to Archibald. "Is that a good thing? Do you think he's gonna accept the offer?"

"Honestly, he might." Archibald said. "While he wouldn't ever admit it in person, he's desperate. We all are. Those demons are growing in numbers by the day and we can't sit around and do nothing. I think a civil war is about to break out soon and if that happens, then we need to be able to infiltrate our enemies and figure out what they plan to do."

Jenkins interrupted their conversation. "What will Mariposa do exactly if she infiltrates their base?"

"I don't know. Find out enemy secrets, assassinate their leader, it could be any number of things. The only thing I really know is that it won't be easy."

Mariposa looked at Jenkins. "You...will let me do this if Dave says yes, right?"

Jenkins nodded. "Of course. I've seen what you can do. I believe you are fully capable of infiltrating some base. Especially when the doors and windows are probably gigantic due to those demons' size. I trust your skills enough to do this. But only if Dave has someone else go with you."

Mariposa smiled. "Okay. But while I'm gone, you and Meteora should look up what you need in that library."

"I just hope whatever we need to know is in there. Otherwise we basically came here for nothing."

"I mean, we'll get food and supplies."

"True. Now, let's see if Dave agrees to your plan."

They had to wait a little while longer for that. It was another ten minutes before Dave returned.

"Alright," he started. "I have agreed to this deal. You, um, what was your name again?"

"Mariposa."

"Right. Mariposa will infiltrate my enemies base and do what I need her to do. While she's doing that, you two can access my library." He looked at Jenkins and Meteora. "It's gonna be a hassle to convince Relicor though…"

"Good." Mariposa said. "Now, where do we start?"

"A bit straight to the point there, aren't you? You're not leaving until tomorrow. I just talked it over with my wife, and you three will be staying in the dungeons- I mean the guests rooms for tonight."

"Does the Underworld even have night?" Meteora asked.

"We have...cycles in which most of the flames outside die down for a bit. You will be given some things to eat and then you will be sent there. Then tomorrow, you'll get your opportunity."

"Good." Jenkins said. "And one final thing, I'd like someone to accompany Mariposa on her infiltration mission. I'd rather her not go alone."

"Very well. That can be arranged. Now then, Archibald will lead you to the dining room where you will get your food and water. There will be others there, by the way." With that, Dave left, followed by his two guards and the one that had burst in earlier.

"Well then." Archibald said. "You can follow me. Again."

"Do you have to say that every time you lead someone somewhere?" Jenkins asked.

"It's...my orders. It's a way to make it look official." With that, he walked out of the room as well. The others followed him and he led them through the halls. They all looked the same, but there were so many of them. The castle was much bigger on the inside.

Finally, after roughly 3 minutes of walking, (with the occasional break so Archibald could catch up) they finally made it to a giant room not unlike a dining hall. There was just one long gigantic table made of what appeared to be made out of a shiny black rock. Obsidian maybe? There were also benches made out of the stuff. It honestly didn't look very comfortable.

But there were people sitting on the benches. These were obviously all the people that had found the Underworld portal and had been taken in, as the group was exclusively monsters, Mewmans and humans. They were all just sitting on the benches, with some talking to each other, but most were just sitting quietly, simply waiting.

He quickly eyed the crowd, looking for someone, anyone that he might recognize. Unfortunately, there was nobody. Where were they? 15 years and he had only met a few people he had met before. But they had all been recently. Maybe he would meet more people soon? He hoped that was the case.

As for the crowd, they were likely waiting for food and water, which there was none at the moment. Didn't Archibald say that people worked and basically got paid in food and water? Jenkins assumed that it must be getting ready. He then slowly looked over the whole spectacle again, and smiled slightly.

"The legends are true." He muttered to himself. "Hell is just one big communal table."

Nobody noticed them enter, or more likely, they didn't care, as nobody looked in their direction.

"Alright then." Archibald said. He then pointed to a few empty seats on one of the benches. "You'll be sitting there." Jenkins walked towards the spot, but Meteora and Mariposa stayed where they were, still looking at the room.

"Is something wrong with them?" Archibald asked Jenkins.

Before he could answer, Mariposa answered for them. "It's just, we've almost never seen this many people in one room before. Especially since they're or trying to kill us. The last time we saw anywhere near this many was at Janna's base, with her army of priests."

"Don't get too used to it." Jenkins said. Remember what we came here for."

Mariposa looked at him, then looked away and nodded slowly.

Jenkins kneeled down and whispered into Archibald's ear. "Don't tell anybody what we are actually here for. I'm pretty sure these people won't be happy if they find out we're gonna get food and water and all we're gonna do is read those books at the library."

"Well," Archibald said. "And your one of your daughters-"

"Adoptees technically. They're not my biological daughters."

Archibald paused for a moment. "...Right. And one of your _adoptees_ is going to infiltrate an enemy base. I will honestly say that that is more useful than anything anybody else does here."

"Hm."

"But, while you're at it, you could try and reorganize the library a bit. That place is a mess."

"Yeah, we'll see." He then walked over to Meteora and Mariposa and also told them to not tell anybody about why they were here.

They finally stopped looking around the room and walked over to the bench along with Jenkins, and then sat down. Archibald then left out the doorway they came in.

Meteora tapped her fingers on the table. "What do you think we're gonna get?"

"Probably the most simple dish they can think of. I won't complain honestly, as long as we get something."

"Jeez. How long has it been since we've eaten anything?"

"About a day or two."

"Only a day? And how much stuff has happened since then? We ran for our lives, got taken to Janna's base, fought and killed about 6 people, ran for our lives again, climbed a mountain, witnessed a bunch of guilt visions, walked another couple of miles, searched through a town and a temple for hours, found Archibald, went into the Underworld, ran for our lives a third time, and then came back here. Seriously, our metabolism for this kind of crap is amazing."

"Well, that's what happens to you when you live on a protein bar a day diet. Your body gets used to not having enough to eat."

Mariposa interrupted their conversation. "Speaking of eating…" She then pointed to their left.

They all turned around and saw a bunch of people carrying what appeared to be lumps wrapped in some kind of paper, with Archibald among them. They all set them down in front of people and then left. Everybody immediately opened the bags and started eating whatever was inside at the same time, as if they were on a timer.

Jenkins opened his. As expected, it was simple, but diverse. A small loaf of bread, some unidentifiable fruit, and maybe some kind of meat? Also a small pouch of water. This must be what everybody gets every night. Simple, but effective. Honestly, it was much, much better than what they were used to.

Meteora and Mariposa looked as if they were about to eat it as fast as possible, but Jenkins leaned over to them. "Savor it while you can." They paused and nodded, then picked up one of the items and started slowly eating it.

Jenkins ate his meal as well, but he hardly tasted any of it. He was too busy thinking. He looked around the room again, studying every person. It was almost uncomfortable, being around so many people, so many people that weren't trying to kill him, or steal from him, or do anything like that. It was...different. Strange.

He realized he had probably forgotten what it meant to be a person. After so many years of distrust and whatnot, he couldn't help but look at each person to make sure that they didn't have any malice in their eyes. He couldn't help but distrust them. Even though this place was a place he didn't think would ever exist again, (at least in his lifetime), he just wanted to leave it behind and go back to the real world.

Heh. The "real" world. A wasteland. Once filled with radiation and invisible death, now filled with visible threats that were just as deadly. Who would ever want to return there?

Him, apparently. He hoped that not all of his lessons rubbed off on Meteora and Mariposa. If he- no. Not "if". When. When he found their parents, they would probably have a lot of life lessons to teach them that he couldn't.

What had he taught them? A lot of things that would probably be frowned upon. Well, at least in the old world. How to scavenge, how to survive, how to steal, how to sneak around.

How to kill.

They had learned quite a few terrible things. Hell, at seven years old they learned how to properly rip someone's throat out using their teeth. That was a fun lesson.

'Damn.' He thought to himself. 'I've been a terrible father. Or did I do what was necessary? Or at least what I thought was necessary?'

But then again, he also taught them that day about how great someone that wasn't trying to kill you. Mix a little good with the bad. So, it was kinda a win-win. Probably one of the only win-win situations that had ever happened to them. Usually, it was just a lose-lose type of situation. Like just recently, when they were attacked by Janna and then lost all their supplies. They lost two times that day. Probably more than two times honestly, but it didn't matter.

"Hey Jenkins."

But really, in the end, what mattered was not what he taught them…

"Jenkins."

Nor what he learned from this experience…

"Mariposa, Is he even listening to me?" "I don't think so..."

But what really mattered was what…

"HEY!"

"Hm?"

Jenkins looked to his right. Meteora had just yelled at him, catching the attention of some people who were now looking at them. Mariposa was also staring at him.

"Oh. Sorry." He said. "I was lost in my thoughts there. What is it?"

Meteora sighed. "Why were you just eating nothing?"

"What...do you mean?"

"You've been picking up imaginary things off that plate for a while and then chewing them. But you've just been eating nothing."

He looked down at the bag that he was given. There was nothing left. He had eaten it all. These types of situations were not really rare occurrences. Whenever he got lost in his thoughts, he tended to work on autopilot.

But it seemed like everybody else was finished as well. Everybody sitting around him looked like they wanted to leave as soon as possible. Did they have to wait?

Archibald then walked into the room. "You can all leave." He announced. Everybody immediately got up and kinda speed walked out of the room. Except for the three. Jenkins then looked at Archibald after everybody was gone and asked him a question.

"What was all that about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did everybody have to wait to leave?"

"Oh. There is a schedule everybody has to follow."

"Then what's next on the schedule?"

"That would be lights out. That's the period in which everybody has to go to bed. Now follow me. Again. For the fourth time. To the sleeping quarters."

"Dungeons."

"Yeah. Those."

They all got up and followed Archibald, who left the room. Jenkins wondered how many times this would happen. Hopefully they would get a sense of direction that was good enough so they didn't have to have him lead them everywhere in this place.

They went through more hallways, and then down several flights of stairs, with the stairs getting more and more dirty as they went on. Not a surprise. The lower levels of a castle were always the dirtiest, even if people lived there.

Finally, they reached the "sleeping quarters." It was actually quite clean, considering it was once the dungeons. Where did they keep the prisoners now? Unless they didn't take prisoners anymore. They were demons. Their policies of prisoner-taking would probably be different.

It was a stone room that was like a giant hallway, with rooms that were once cells. All the rooms were full of people and cots sitting on the floor. The cots had blankets on them, but several appeared to be made of window drapes, but that was understandable. Although it was a castle, there probably still wasn't enough for a hundred people at once. That or a bunch had been worn out. But it didn't really matter. Neither of them really cared that much for comfort anymore. Jenkins has seen that Meteora chose to sleep on the floor rather than the bed while they were at Janna's base. That's what happens when you don't get to ever sleep on a bed.

"Alright." Archibald said. "There are a few empty ones at the end that have been set up for you." He then got closer and whispered to them. "And we'll make you up early so Mariposa can get ready for that infiltration mission and you can go to that library." He then left without saying a word.

"Well…" Meteora said. "I guess there's nothing left to do now but sleep."

"Yeah. Mariposa, be careful not to sleep on your left arm and Meteora, try to be careful on your head."

"Got it."

They all walked to the end of the hallway and there was a room with three empty cots.

"Hm." Jenkins said. He grabbed his cot and moved it to the side, then laid down on the floor.

"You guys can have my stuff, I don't really care right now."

Meteora looked at him in disbelief. "Okay, I know that none of us are really used to beds, but seriously, how can you just sleep on a stone floor?"

"Please. You two were too young to remember this, but back in the early days of the apocalypse, you guys got all the good sleeping materials. I slept on rocks. So I got used to it. Now, goodnight. Or whatever the Underworld has." And with that, he fell asleep instantly, as per usual.

"Annnnd there he goes." Mariposa said. "I'm going to bed as well." She laid down on her cot. "I hope that infiltration mission goes well. I hope I don't come to regret that. Last time I snuck around some person's base, I found a giant pile of skeletons." She then closed her eyes.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Meteora said. But she felt like that was a lie. She was infiltrating a base that was made by demons. If anything, she'll just find things worse than a pile of skeletons.

She laid down on her cot and closed her eyes as well. She wondered what would happen tomorrow. What would they find in the library? Dave said that the information in those books was dangerous, but what could he-

A footstep. From outside the room. She opened her eyes and looked outside the room. Nothing.

"Mariposa, did you hear-" she wasn't there. And Jenkins wasn't there either.

Meteora sighed. Another visit from that voice apparently. "Okay, I just talked to you a few hours ago, what do you want now?"

There was no answer.

"Are you there?"

Still nothing.

Was this another one of Janna's spells? Like at the mountain? Meteora got up and left the room. There was nobody there. She looked down the hall. Still nobody.

She knew she was in another dream. But this one felt different as well. It was like she was aware of what was happening, that she knew that it was a dream, but at the same time, it felt too real.

She kept walking down the hall. She then reached the stairs, and walked up them. But near the top, she heard voices. But these voices weren't familiar. She hadn't heard these voices ever before.

"Oh, St. Olga, thank you for coming." One of the voices said.

She reached the top of the stairs. But this wasn't the Lucitor castle. In fact, this wasn't the Underworld at all. It was something else entirely. There was a window, and outside it Meteora could see several towers. She then realized that she had seen this type of architecture before. This was the Butterfly castle. But it was cleaner. It wasn't destroyed at all. Was this the past? And if it was, why was she-

Then she saw the three unfamiliar figures in the room. One was what appeared to be a servant, one was dressed like a king, with a crown and an odd hair style. The third appeared to be someone made out of metal. Neither of them appeared to see her. She kept looking at the people in the room, when the one dressed like a king spoke. It was the same voice she heard earlier.

"This baby is unfit to lead the kingdom. She's absolutely heinous."

Meteora then noticed that the king was holding something. No, someone. A baby. He gave the baby to the metal figure which then spoke with an equally metallic voice.

"Heinous. What a pretty name."

Wait, was that...her? The baby looked like her, and the tail that the baby had matched hers as well. But the name Heinous. That was her old name, wasn't it? Before all of this. Was this where she came from?

The metal figure rolled off, and the king walked over to the servant and began speaking to him, but Meteora heard none of it. Why was she seeing this? This did feel like a memory, but it must have been the memory of Ms. Heinous, not hers.

But before she could question it further, the scene changed. As if they were never there to begin with, the two figures that were still there vanished, and the entire room also faded.

She was back in the Lucitor castle. But it still felt wrong. Had she woken up, or was this still a dream?

She then heard several screams from another room. She quickly walked over to the source and looked in. She then saw a figure attacking several people. But the figure also seemed like her, with the same tail and a similar hairstyle. She was dressed much differently though, as she had some kind of long purple dress.

She was attacking several girls that all had crowns on their heads. They were rather young. Were they all princesses? But what was really odd was what was happening in the entire scene.

The "old" version of her was attacking them, hitting them, slamming them against walls, while a short goblin-like figure and a large lizard man were watching with obvious looks of shock and fear on their faces.

Meteora grimaced as the old version of her grabbed some kind of floating unicorn head and ripped its horn off, then threw it against a wall. She then walked out of the room, leaving behind a bunch of unconscious and injured princesses on the floor.

The two people she was with slowly followed her, obviously afraid.

Meteora looked down at the pile of people on the floor, too injured to move. Why would she do this? She was evil once right? As Ms. Heinous? She wondered if Jenkins had told her everything. Back at the meeting, Dave had seemed rather afraid of her once he knew who she was. What did she do that would make the king of the Underworld afraid of her?

As if the area around her was responding to her thoughts, the entire scene once again faded away and she heard several loud noises in another room. It sounded like explosions. She looked in. The room seems a lot larger than any room she had seen in the castle so far, save that dining hall she had seen earlier. The entire room was a wreck, with the walls and ceilings having giant holes in them.

But this time, it was impossible to not notice the people in the room. The first thing that caught her eye was a giant purple demon-like figure, with a scared expression on its face. There were two others. One was some teenage girl with long blond hair and two heart cheek marks. Was that Star butterfly? She looked a lot like Jenkins' description of her. He had given her and Mariposa descriptions of everybody that he knew, Incase they ever met them.

But the other she recognized instantly. It was her mother. With some kind of umbrella-like object in her hand that flowed purple, and floating a few feet off the ground.

The large purple figure spoke, it's voice thundering throughout the room.

"You're on their side?!"

Meteora's eyes widened. Different as it was, she recognized that voice. It was hers. What was his all about? How did she grow into that monster? Could she do something like that?

Her mother then pulled the umbrella-like object and spoke with tears in her eyes.

"Black velvet inferno." She said, her voice trembling. A large burst of purple energy immediately burst from the object and covered her. The wave covered up the monster quickly and Meteora could make out one last word before it covered her.

"Mommy…?"

Meteora started in shock as the purple orb covered the monster version of her and then cracks appeared all over its surface. She covered her eyes as a large bright light occurred from within the orb and was shown through the cracks. She heard the monster version of herself yell in pain, and then the orb turned solid and the cracked pieces fell to the ground, with no trace of the figure inside. Before anyone else could do anything, the scene quickly faded into nothingness, much faster than the other two times.

But this time, another scene didn't appear. It was just a dark void. Meteora couldn't process the events she had just witnessed. Why did her mother do that? Was all that destruction she had seen in that room her fault? Did her mother disintegrate her? There didn't appear to be anyone left after that spell she had cast. If that monster really had been her, she had obviously survived, but how? The scene had faded before she could see anything else.

Then a voice called out. But it wasn't a voice she had heard before. It was something different. It was a powerful voice. She could feel it crawling over her soul, like it had complete power over her.

_**"This is what you were."**_

"Ah! Who's there? Who said that?" She asked, startled.

But the voice didn't respond. Was this gonna be a common occurrence? Was she going to have to deal with _two_ voices speaking to her in her dreams? She wasn't sure if she could do that.

The black void shifted again. But this time, she knew what she was seeing. These were all familiar events. But it wasn't long events like the three she had just been shown. It was like quick flashes of memories. This was all the events she had witnessed in the apocalypse, everything she had seen.

The first lesson Jenkins had taught them; how to properly hide from people that were dangerous.

The first time she killed someone, a scavenger that was attacking them. She could still smell the blood on her claws, and see the shocked expression on Jenkins and Mariposa's faces.

The first time she was truly scared for her life, when a group of monsters attacked them. She had never seen one before, despite Jenkins describing them constantly Incase they ever met one.

The first time she found something in a group of ruins. She could remember how proud of herself she felt, even though it was just a simple broken pair of glasses.

And the first time she had spoken to that mysterious voice in her dreams. She was now dreaming about a dream that she had earlier.

Then she saw the more recent events. Flashes of events form the whole Janna ordeal, the visions she had at the mountain, searching the temple and the castle, finding Archibald and then going to the Underworld.

The scenes faded similarly to before, and a black void was all that was left again.

The thundering voice that she had heard earlier spoke once again.

_**"This is what you are."**_

"I don't understand…" She said. "Why are you showing me these things?" But there was no response, just like last time.

Then the scene turned into something else. She was outside. In the middle of nowhere. She was in a wasteland. One she had seen many times before. One that looked just like everywhere else.

She then saw two shadows. Two pitch black figures. One she recognized instantly. It was the monster that she had seen earlier. It was the one that she once was. That her mother had attacked.

The other one she didn't recognize. It looked like her, but it was different. It was slightly hard to see, due to it being pitch black, but she could see that she appeared to have six arms, and wings that resembled a butterfly's. Was this her mewberty form? Jenkins had talked about it before, but he didn't think she could use it because there was no more magic.

But that was before they knew magic was still alive. Could she use that form if she tried?

The two black figures then shuddered, and then slowly seemed to melt and turn into a black liquid. Once they were gone, the two pools seemed to be lifeless, but then slowly moved towards each other.

_**"And now."**_ The voice suddenly called out, _**"What will you become?"**_

The two pools then reached each other and seemed to merge.

Nothing happened. It was just a large pool of black liquid. Then it moved, and a giant hand shot out. It was still as dark as night, but Meteora felt like she could see every detail on it. The hand was also gigantic, it looked like it could crush a car in its bare fist.

A gigantic figure crawled out of the liquid, with the pool shrinking as the figure got bigger and bigger. Finally, it crawled out of the pool entirely.

She could see it now. All of it. It was much bigger than the monster form of herself she had seen earlier, as the creature easily seemed to be the size of a building. It towered above her and everything else.

It also seemed to be some kind of combination between the monster and the butterfly figure she had seen. It had the horns and the size, but she could also see two gigantic wings coming out of its back, as well as the six arms that the butterfly figure had. The wings were so big that it looked like the waves that they would give off if the monster used them could blow over a house.

The creature didn't do anything, and Meteora was too scared to move.

It raised a foot up, and then leaned forward. It was so big that it didn't even have to step forward to get near her. She still couldn't move, although she wasn't sure if it was out of fear anymore or if something else was preventing her from moving.

The foot came down. It got closer and closer, as if moving in slow motion. Then she saw nothing, and heard nothing then the beating of her own heart. It was beating so fast that she felt it was about to come out of her chest.

The scene faded. But it wasn't like last time. It was her vision that was fading. Before it turned to darkness once again, she heard that voice for one last time.

_**"You can prevent this…"**_

.

.

.

Another scene came into view. This one was one she had seen very recently. She was back in the dungeon. She had finally woken up from that nightmare. It seemed like everybody else was still asleep.

What was that voice? This one seemed different than the one she was used to. It sounded like it only spoke when it needed to, and nothing else, like it wasn't one for conversations. But unlike the last few dreams she had, she felt like she wouldn't be hearing that voice again.

_**"You can prevent this.."**_

It echoed in her mind. She spent the rest of her time thinking about what she had seen, what the voice had said, and what it had meant.

And based on what she had seen in that nightmare, none of the options were good.

None at all.

**End chapter 12**

**A/N: My, my. What a chapter. These things are just getting longer and longer. I know the beginning might feel a bit like filler, so I hope I wrote it well. And Meteora's suspicion is true. I can confirm that whoever the thundering voice she met in that dream is, we likely won't be seeing it again. And if we do, it won't be for a long time.**

**And what could this all mean? Bad memories, looks into the past, present, and possible future, and a combination of the monster and butterfly form. That's gonna be fun. If it happens. It all depends.**

**But I'm not sure exactly what to do for the next chapter. I'm not sure if I should do a chapter for the Mariposa infiltration thing or the library scene. If anybody knows which one they think I should do next or which one they would prefer, if they could tell me that would be great. I'd love to hear the opinions of the readers.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	13. Chapter 13: New spies and old books

**A/N: I don't usually do authors notes before a story, but the responses I got to whether I should do a Mariposa infiltration chapter or a library chapter ended up with the library chapter. So that's what this chapter will focus mainly on.**

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 13**

**New spies and old books**

"Wake up, you two!"

Mariposa's eyes suddenly shot open, having been woken from whatever dream she was having. She quickly got up and looked around for whoever had just yelled at her.

It had been Archibald. He was standing in the doorway along with King Dave, two guards, and Meteora, who was looking at them like she had been waiting for them to wake up for a long time.

Jenkins rubbed his eyes and groaned. "You know, you could have just nudged us awake or something. You didn't have to yell at us."

"Sorry." Archibald said. "But I had a fear that if we woke you physically, then you would attack us before you bothered to recognize us."

Jenkins thought about this for a moment. "Hm. Yeah, that actually sounds like something I would do. But why are you waking us up right now anyway? I feel like it's been no more than a few hours since we fell asleep."

"Well, we felt if it was best if you left early, so the other people staying here didn't have any suspicions when you left."

"If you didn't want them to have suspicions or wake up, then why did you yell at us? Hell, why did you even have us sleep down here or eat with the others? They wouldn't have ever even known we were here in the first place!"

"It was a late decision. It was during your meal. The king and I met up during that."

"If we're all done with this little conversation," Dave interjected. "I think it's time that you get ready for your little infiltration mission." He looked at Mariposa. She quickly got up and stood in front of Dave.

"So, What equipment will I get for this mission? Do I get weapons or anything like that?"

"Oh yes. You will be given a bag filled with things that you will need. A knife in case you need to defend yourself, made by the Underworld's best blacksmith. It is almost unbreakable, and will cut through any armor. We would give you a bigger weapon, but we thought that would make you more detectable to the enemy."

"It's okay. Stealth is the whole thing here, isn't it?"

Yes. You will also be given a few simple supplies, in case you need to hide somewhere for a long time. And finally, you will also not be alone on this mission."

"What do you mean? Someone's coming with me?"

"Jenkins did say that he wanted someone to come with you, didn't he?"

"Oh yeah." Mariposa looked back at Jenkins. "He did say that. So who's the person that's coming with me?"

"You'll see. But for now, I'm going to brief you on what you will need to do on this infiltration mission and what you should expect. Further details will be given by your companion in case of any events that may cause changes to the mission."

"Okay. Lay it on me."

"The enemies base is a large castle roughly 25 kilometers from here, so at walking speed you should reach it in about 5 hours. It is made of the hardest stone in the underworld, and, quite possibly, all know dimensions. That is why an infiltration mission is necessary. Attacking it directly is futile, as no weapons we have could pierce its walls."

"Have you tried attacking it before?"

"Yes. But since we couldn't break through the wall, we tried to lay siege to it."

"And what happened next?"

"Well, we thought they had used all of their arrows earlier, but that was what they wanted us to think. So they launched a surprise attacking with their arrows and wiped out a good half of our forces with that attack. There were so many that I'm pretty sure that if the Underworld had a sun, then those arrows would have darkened the sky."

"Yeesh. Why haven't they attacked you back?"

"Well, we would probably just do the same to them. Our castle is just as strong, and if they lay siege to us, then we can survive for a long time. So attacking us at the current moment would be useless."

"What about flying demons that can fly over the walls?"

"Oh, they would be shot down by our archers in an instance. All the soldiers are trained to go for the flying ones first."

"Where were the archers when we arrived?"

"what do you mean?

"When we arrived, two demons were chasing us, but we didn't see any archers attacking them."

Dave paused for a moment. "Okay, I'm going to go take care of that after this. If they weren't doing their jobs, then we could have been infiltrated."

Mariposa thought about what Dave had said for a second. "There's something I still don't get."

"What is it?"

"You guys all said that the Underworld is about to break into a civil war. Does all this fighting not count as a civil war yet?"

"A civil war would be between all the kingdoms of the Underworld. It is a lot bigger than most people think. The Lucitor kingdom is only the biggest one. We fear that other kingdoms might join our enemies in attacking us. If that happens, our allies will help us, but then it will all go downhill. When people start picking sides, then the real fighting will start. And then it will be too late to prevent a war."

"How many allies do you have?"

Dave's expression suddenly turned grim.

"Not enough." And that was the only answer he gave.

Mariposa swallowed hard. She was starting to regret this. If a war was about to break out, then it would be best if they all just left right now, regardless of what information the Underworld might have. She could only imagine what it would be like. Thousands of people slaughtering each other on a battlefield, with no reason to do so other than having been given orders to do so.

That was something she didn't want to see. Hopefully she had a choice in that situation.

But as for the mission, she still needed to know more about it, about what she would do on it.

"So, what will I do on this mission? What are my goals?"

Dave took a deep breath and then continued talking. "You will have three main objectives. The first is to find their leader and assassinate him. The second is to find their plans for their future attacks and steal them. The third objective is for you to find and release any prisoners they have."

"I...don't think these guys take prisoners. We saw the guards near the portal. All their heads were cut off. I think they just kill anybody they find."

"They take some prisoners. And they let us know that they have them. They want us to attack them and try to free them. But we're not doing that, so that's your job."

"Alright, is that all?"

"Yes. Just those three things." He said this in a way that seemed as if they were simple tasks, not life threatening ones.

They kept walking in silence through the castle, which seemed much quieter than when they arrived. Finally, they got to the entrance of the castle. Several other people were waiting there. There were half a dozen guards, and a gigantic demon that was larger than any demon (or creature for that matter) that Mariposa had ever seen. She didn't see the person that would be joining them. They were probably getting ready. And least she assumed that. It couldn't be anybody that was already here. They were too big, and the person accompanying her would have to be small and quick, like her.

"Who's the giant demon?" Meteora asked.

"Oh, that's my wife, Wraithmelior." Dave answered

"That's...your wife?"

"Yes." He answered. Meteora then looked at Dave. Then at Wraithmelior. Then back at Dave.

"Yeah, Okay." She sighed. "Is she the one that's going to be accompanying Mariposa?"

"No. She's just here to watch them leave. It's a thing she likes to do. But the person who is accompanying Mariposa should be here…"

Dave looked at his wife. "Do you know where she is?"

The large demon spoke. It didn't speak in words, as far as any of them could tell. It only spoke in growls and some kind of incomprehensible speech. But Dave seemed to understand it just fine.

"Hm. I see. Yes, she will be her shortly. She is the best spy we have in the Underworld. She got her skills from her father, who I think was also a spy, good at infiltrating, before he died."

"Why didn't you just send her earlier than?" Jenkins asked. If they already had a great spy, then why would they send all those soldiers that they had seen in the trust meeting room earlier?

"Well, she is a great spy, and a decent combatant. But she is terrible at working alone. For some reason, she always liked to work with others. So with you also asking her to go on that mission, we thought this would be a perfect opportunity for her to use her skills. Two spies working together, I have no doubt that you will be able to infiltrate that castle successfully."

Mariposa thought about this for a while. Then she wondered if she would get any physical protection.

"Am I gonna get any armor on this mission? Or anything like that?"

"We can give it to you if you want, but I suspect it will greatly slow you down. Also, the armor makes noise, and this is a stealth mission, so I wouldn't recommend it. But do you want any change of clothes or something?"

"I'm fine with these."

"And your arm wound?"

"Don't even feel it anymore. I'm good."

"..Right."

Wraithmelior interrupted them by suddenly letting out a series of growls.

"Ah," Dave said. "Your partner must be here." Right on cue, a figure then walked Into the room.

Mariposa eyed her from head to toe. She was obviously some kind of monster, with green skin and two large eyes. She slightly resembled a frog. She was only slightly taller than Mariposa was, maybe a few centimeters at most.

"This is Katrina." Dave said. "She was with a group of her siblings that found the portal and came to this place. We found out she had great spying skills and we put her in a job that would fit those skills."

Jenkins started at her. She seemed slightly familiar. But it wasn't Katrina herself, it was the type of monster she was. Had he seen someone like that before? He tried to remember, but for some reason all he could get were memory flashes of someone with a thick Russian accent.

Katrina stopped forward in front of Mariposa. "So, this is who I'm working with?" She asked.

Dave nodded.

Katrina smiled and stuck her hand out. "It's gonna be nice to work with you! I'm Katrina!"

Mariposa looked at the hand, and then stuck hers out and gave Katrina an emotionless handshake. This person seemed overly friendly, and Mariposa couldn't understand who could be that cheerful in any kind of situation like this.

But Katrina seemingly didn't mind. She simply let go of Mariposa's hand and walked over to the guards who were holding some bags. She took hers and then waited by the large gate.

"Go get your bag, Mariposa." Dave said. "And the. your mission will start." She slowly walked over to the guards and took her bag and walked over to the gate as well. Katrina moves a little closer to her with a smile on her face, but Mariposa then moved slightly away from her, prompting a small frown from Katrina."

Wraithmelior then looked at the two and growled a few things, which greatly confounded Mariposa. She was presumably wishing them luck on their mission, or at least that's what it looked like. She then turned away and growled something at the guards, who then moved away and pulled a switch, and the gate slowly started opening. Katrina walked out, but Mariposa held back.

"What's wrong?" Jenkins asked. Mariposa lowered her voice so nobody else would hear them.

"I'm not sure I trust her. She seems overly friendly about this mission."

"Well, some people just have weird personalities. You know, she could actually be a sack full of grief and misery, and this happy thing is her attempt to get rid of it."

"That's a nice thought." She said sarcastically.

"Just try to be friendly. You're going to be stuck with that person for a while. And do whatever she tells you. She probably knows this place, I don't want you to get hurt or die."

"I won't. Trust me."

"Speaking of injuries, how's your arm doing anyways? Does it hurt or anything?"

"Kind of a but late for you to ask that, don't you think?"

"...Does it?"

"Yes, but you taught me to ignore the pain in situations like this."

Jenkins smiled. "That's the spirit. Now, go and do what you do best."

Mariposa smiled back at him. "I will, and I promise you that I won't fail."

With that, she followed Katrina out the gate, which then closed behind them. Everybody watched as they left.

"I hope everything goes well." Jenkins said. "Because to be honest, I'm actually terrified for her."

"Wait." Meteora said. "I thought you had complete trust in her skills."

"I do, but I still don't want her to get hurt or anything like that. I'm worried."

"Why didn't you ask if you could go?"

"Because we still have that library thing to deal with."

"Why couldn't you have just done that when you got back?"

"Because if we all died, then you would have been all alone here. Forever."

Meteor shuddered at the thought. "Okay, good point. But don't worry too much. Dave said that Katrina is a great fighter. Mariposa is too. I'm sure they can defend themselves if they get in a fight."

"Against six foot tall demons wearing giant armor?"

"I mean, they will almost certainly be faster."

"But not stronger. And they will be outnumbered. I can only hope it all goes well."

They both stood in silence before Jenkins turned around.

"Hey Dave! Can we use that library to your now?"

"What? Already? But they just left."

"Yeah. That's why I asked. It would probably be best if we could accomplish two things at the same time."

Dave paused for a moment. "Well, alright. But be careful. And please don't anger Relicor."

"Does the library belong to him or something?"

"Well, I actually haven't been entirely honest with you so far. Our library isn't really a library at all. It's just his private study. We just call it the library because it's really where the only books in the castle are kept."

"So he won't be too happy to see us just messing around?

"I talked it over with him. He says it's fine, as long as you don't damage anything. A good deal of those books are the last copies of them in existence.'

"Be careful. Got it."

"Good. Archibald!"

Archibald suddenly snapped to attention. "Um, yes king Dave?"

"Take our two guests to the library. I have some things to discuss with the royal archers."

"At once sir."

Archibald turned towards them. "Please follow me." He then muttered, "Again."

Jenkins smirked. It was nice to see that Archibald was getting tired of this as well. He probably would be after a while. Anything could get repetitive if you did it long enough. So, they went back in the castle, and through the demonic halls. They eventually arrived at a relatively small wooden door.

"Why is that door so small?" Meteora asked.

"Because," Archibald said. "The person who owns it made it to fit his size. So watch your head." Archibald then pulled out a keyring from his pocket and inserted one of the keys into the door."

"Does that ring have the keys to every door in the castle? Do you have full reign over this place or something?"

"Most rooms. I'm one of the most trusted people here, and with me having to lead people places I was given these keys. Now, enter and look up whatever you want. I'll come back in a while, but I have other things to do.

"Alright." Jenkins said. "See you later then."

"Yup." and with that, Archibald walked away. Jenkins and Metroa looked at each other and entered the room.

The room was impressive, to say the least. There were a few paintings, but the really impressive things were the books themselves. Dozens of bookcases, all stacked with books. There had to be thousands of books here. Metroa stared at the room. She rarely saw books, so to see this was something entirely new to her. She had seen a lot of new things recently, hadn't she? With the magic, the monster temple and Butterfly castle, to the Underworld and the large crowd in the dining hall, and now all these books. She was starting to get used to what the world was really like. Then something else she didn't really recognize caught her eye.

"Hey Jenkins, what's that?' She asked.

Jenkins turned around and looked at what she was pointing at. It was a computer. It must have been used to find the books in here. He slowly walked over to it, wondering if it still worked. He pressed the power button. Nothing. He looked at the plug that was connected to the wall. It was plugged in.

It must not have worked anymore. It was probably powered by magical energy way back when, but with magic (mostly) gone, they would likely have a hard time using it.

Luckily, they wouldn't have to use the computer to figure out which books were where, as there were two distinct piles on a couple of tables. One was large and piled with books, while the other was small and only had a few.

"Alright." He said. "Dave said that they had looked in most of the books, but not all of them. I'm going to assume that the bigger pile is the ones they recently looked through, and the smaller pile is the ones that they haven't read. If we want answers, then we're gonna look through those first."

"Got it." Meteora said. She walked over to the smaller book pile, but just as she was about to grab one, she paused.

"Wait. Didn't Dave say that there was this Relicor guy? Where is he? Is he watching us?

Her question was answered by a slightly loud screech from above them. They both looked up and saw a small, wrinkly grey demon on top of a chandelier watching them with suspicion.

"Well, there's your Relicor." Jenkins said. "No doubt watching us to make sure we don't damage any of the books."

Metroa called out the small figure. "Um, Hey! Don't worry. We're just gonna look through some things. You don't have to worry about us damaging anything."

Relicor slightly narrowed his eyes, and continued watching them.

"I'm gonna assume he's gonna do that the whole time, so just ignore him." Jenkins said. He then lowered his voice to a whisper. "And don't be too overconfident about not damaging the books. How many times have you held an actual book?"

"Yeah, I know, not that many times, but I still know how to use one. I just hope it's in english. You never got to teach me how to read in any other languages."

Jenkins laughed slightly, but it wasn't loud enough that Meteor could hear it. Teaching those two how to read in one language was hard enough. It was only a few years ago that they had perfected it. The only reason they were able to learn was through the use of roughly a half dozen partially burned books that they found. And one of them was thankfully a dictionary. Without those, they would have never known how to read.

But as for writing? Impossible. That would require paper and pencils and pens and other things, of which they had none of. They never found any writing utensils that weren't destroyed or didn't work, so they never had anything to write with. While they could have used charcoal from the fires that they made, they never had anything to write on, and it would likely be too hard anyways. So trying to teach them to write was off the table.

Jenkisjn shrugged off his thoughts and grabbed two of the books. One appeared to be a guide on various magical artifacts, while the other was some kind of books on random spells. He opened them both to make sure they were in english, which they were. For reasons he didn't understand, english just seemed to be some kind of omniversal language. Everybody used it. Everybody seemed to know it. Just another one of life's great mysteries.

And those types of mysteries were rarely answered.

He tossed Meteora the book on various spells. "Read through it. See if you can find any clues that might hint as to why magic is still around. Any spells that could help us. Any kind of hints, rules about magic, anything. And keep an eye out for communication and dream spells as well. I still want to know more about that voice you said talked to you, and if you found the spell that enabled it to do so, then that would be useful."

Meteora nodded slightly. She wasn't sure if she should tell him about the second voice that she had heard. The one that had shown her the past. And what might have been some kind of future that she was supposed to prevent.

And didn't the first voice already tell her why magic was still around? What had it said? Oh, right, it said…

Had said…

She couldn't remember.

Why couldn't she remember what it had said? She was sure that it had told her. Something about atoms? But then again, she had already completely forgotten her first meeting with it. All she knew about that was that it had happened, but nothing else. Was she losing more of her memories? Because of her skull fracture? But surely it couldn't be that severe. Could it?

If it really was affecting her memories, then she could only hope that it was short term instead of long term. Hopefully she didn't lose any more of her memories. She opened the spell book and started reading through it.

There. The spells started on the first page. They seemed extremely simple, as most didn't even have descriptions, just pictures of what they would do and incantations. She continued looking through it and then saw one that caught her eye. It appeared to be a spell to summon some kind of energy ball. For some reason, she was drawn to it. It was summoned using a silent incantation.

She looked over at Jenkins. He wasn't paying attention. He was busy reading though his own book about magical artifacts.

Could she use magic? She vaguely thought that the voice had said something about using magic, something about willpower. Janna has used it, hadn't she? If Janna could do it, then maybe she could as well.

There was only one way to find out. She raised up her hand and silently started speaking the words on the page.

As for Jenkins, he was looking at the artifacts book. He opened the cover only to be met with: "Updated for the merge." A new version of the book must have been made after the merge between Earth and Mewni. And after the destruction of magic. Which meant that most things in these books were destroyed, most like having faded from existence or turned to dust after the magic died.

But it didn't really die. So maybe some of these things were still around.

He flipped through the first few pages which was simply a very long definition of magical artifacts. The book of artifacts was really just a book of things that could be used as weapons. Almost every "artifact" was almost certainly made with violence in mind.

The first few he saw were by no means created for peace. And just like he suspected, the status of the objects fit the destruction of the magic dimension. All of them had crudely drawn pictures next to them.

The dagger of Thol, a powerful object which could kill anything simply by cutting them with it. Any powers that the person that was killed had were given to the murderer. Status: Missing, presumed destroyed.

The Crystal eye of the mind, a large purple gemstone which enabled its user to have complete control over their body. They could enlarge or stretch their limbs, regenerate, make themselves indestructible, or even grow to the size of a mountain, basically becoming the physical embodiment of "mind over body" as well as becoming a warrior unlike any other. Status: Missing, presumed destroyed.

The tower of Agnej, a miniature model of a tower that could be used to escape perilous situations...by sending out a giant wave of energy that would consume and destroy everything except for the person using it. Status: confirmed to be destroyed.

Jenkins sighed. This was no help. The "updated' version was really just a big book of things that were presumably destroyed and thus, useless to them.

He kept looking through the book, but it was just filled with more entries of things that no longer existed or were impossible to find. The Wire of Zenrod? Presumed destroyed. The Shining sword of Helios? Confirmed to be destroyed. The Bell of eternity? Ceased to exist for some reason. The Hammer of the Esron? Somewhere in the infinite void, and thus completely irretrievable.

Jenkins closed the book. No more use was going to come out of it. These artifacts were all gone,and even if they weren't, they had no idea how to get their hands on them. Why did he even look in this book in the first place? There would be no answers to any of his questions here.

Maybe he was just too hopeful. What were the odds that-

"Jenkins."

Well, maybe Meteora had found something in that spell book. Her book was probably more likely to have something than his.

"Yeah, what is…"

His eyes widened at the sight before him.

"...it."

Meteora had summoned some kind of purple energy ball from the spell book, which was now floating above her hand. She was visibly shaking out of fear and her expression clearly read that she didn't know how she had summoned it, or how to get rid of it.

"What do I do with this thing?"

He paused for a second before answering.

"How...how did you do that?"

"I...just saw a spell on one of the pages and wanted to see if I could use it. I didn't expect it to work on the first try."

Jenkins continued staring in disbelief. He took a deep breath and attempted to speak, but no words came out.

'Well.' He thought. 'I have the feeling that this is the start of something either very, very good, or very, very bad.'

'And I don't want to figure out which.'

**End chapter 13**

**A/N: Kind of an abrupt ending, yes, but a good starting point for the next chapter. Or maybe the one after that. I might go back and forth between this and the Mariposa thing, or I might finish this up and then go to the Mariposa thing.**

**But Meteora can use magic, or did someone else summon that for her? And more memories were lost, which will definitely screw things up down the line.**

**Wonder what that voice will have to say about all of this.**

**And Katrina makes a surprise appearance. Overly friendly one too. I hope I did her right, because we're definitely gonna be seeing more of her.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	14. Chapter 14: Magic test

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 14**

**Magic test**

Stunned. Shocked. Surprised. Any of these words would perfectly describe what Jenkins and Meteora were feeling. Somehow, she had summoned some kind of purple energy ball. With a spell. That used magic. Had it really been this easy the whole time? Could she have summoned something at any time simply with the right words?

Jenkins suddenly had flashbacks of all the fights that could have been prevented, all the deaths that might not have happened if either of them knew about this. Did she know? No, it didn't seem like it. The look of confusion and fear on her face was genuine. She had no idea she could do this. Nobody did. Even above them, Rasticor seemed surprised at what had just happened.

Meteora spoke up again, repeating what she had said earlier.

"What do I do with this? Should I put it down, or…"

"No." Jenkins said. "Don't put it down. We don't know what that spell is. We can't take any chances with it."

"I think it's some kind of attack spell. I'm...not entirely sure though. I only read part of what the page said."

"You tried to summon a spell without knowing what it did?"

"I didn't expect it to work! And I was drawn to it. I felt like I needed to cast this one. Like it would be useful. So I did it too quickly."

"Drawn to it, eh?"

"Yeah. Drawn."

"Okay. We'll deal with that later. But for now, try and disperse it."

"How do I do that?"

"Simply think about it disappearing. You don't need it anymore. It doesn't serve any purpose. Just think that you don't need it anymore and that you can get rid of it."

"But, but what if that doesn't work? What will happen then? Will I have to throw it at something? How powerful is it? What if I-"

"Hey! Hey." Jenkins walked towards her slowly. "Just...calm down. We'll get through this. It's just a small mistake that should be fixed easily. Don't panic."

"Okay. Okay. I'm calm. I'm calm."

"Good. Now, close your eyes, and concentrate. Like I said, it doesn't serve any purpose, and you can get rid of it."

Meteora closed her eyes and did just that. She tried to think about it disappearing, about it being erased, but she wasn't sure if anything was actually happening. She couldn't feel it, and she only knew it was there because she had seen it. Hopefully it would work. Hopefully it would…

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "You can open your eyes now."

She opened them and looked at her hand. The ball of energy was gone. Like it was never there to begin with.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You dispersed it. It simply faded a few seconds after you closed your eyes. That was actually quite fast."

"So, is that it then?"

"Yup. You can breathe again, in case you were holding in."

"I wasn't."

"Good, now onto the other problem. You said you were drawn to using that spell, yes?"

"Mmm Hmm."

"How so?"

"Well, It sorta felt like I needed to use it. Like it would come in handy later. Like it was important. But I'm

not sure why I just summoned it like that. I didn't expect it to work at all."

"Well, It did. I wonder…"

"What is it?"

"Do you think you could try any other spells?"

"I mean, I guess I could try. If this one worked, then I might be able to cast others."

"Well, then pick whichever one you want then. But also that preferably doesn't look like the one you just cast."

Meteora started looking through the pages for a spell that looked safe to use. But she didn't know which one to use. Like the spells in the beginning of the book, most of them just had simple pictures for the spell, and sometimes it was hard to actually figure out what the spell was supposed to do. The one with the purple energy ball was one of the only ones that gave a (if brief) description on what the spell did.

Then she found one that she recognized. One that had been burned into her brain.

"Hey, isn't this the spell that Janna used?"

Jenkins looked over at the book. On the page was a picture of a hand, which was glowing brightly. The name of the spell appeared to be called the "sunlight" spell. Jenkins remembered how Janna had used spells just like that to trick them into thinking they had found an exit.

"I...think so. Good find. But honestly, I'd rather forget that whole ordeal. It just doesn't sit right with me."

"I don't think it sat right with any of us."

"Indeed. Now, if that really is the same spell, then it should definitely be safe to use. It just emits light. Particularly bright light."

"Okay, let me try it then." Meteora looked down on the incantation for the spell. Just one simple word.

She raised her hand in the air and spoke the incantation word.

"Solis." She looked at her hand. Jenkins looked at her hand

Nothing happened.

"Are...you sure that's the right word?" Jenkins asked.

"That's what the book says. Let me try again."

She took a deep breath and repeated the word.

"Solis."

But once again, no light came from her hand.

"Okay, this ain't working." She said.

"Does it say anything else? Extra words? Hand motions?"

"No! It just says to say some random word!"

"Okay. Calm down. Just try another spell."

"I can't. Come on. SOLIS!" She yelled.

Instantly, a blinding light came from her hand and brightened the entire room. Jenkins, Meteora and even Relicor looked away and covered their eyes.

"Ah!" Jenkins said. "My god, that is bright! Turn it off! Get rid of it!"

"How?!"

"Just...do the same thing that you did with the energy ball. Imagine the light going away and that you don't need it anymore."

"Okay. Let me just…"

She immediately closed her eyes and concentrated. Even though her eyes were closed, she could still see the brightness through her eyelids. But after a while of imagining the spell disappearing, the light faded. Meteora opened her eyes and saw that it was gone.

"Finally." Jenkins said. "I can see again."

"Sorry about that. I didn't know that-"

"No, it's fine. But just remember this: While I haven't ever used magic myself, I've seen people use it enough times that I know it's a bad idea to use it while you're frustrated or angry. The spell will kinda absorb those emotions and basically supercharge the original intent of the spell."

"Couldn't that be a good thing in some situations?"

"It would be, if the person using the spell wasn't blind with rage and just attacked without thinking. Collateral damage is a huge problem. Especially when it could be to yourself."

"So...should I try again?"

"Yes. But stay calm this time."

"Okay."

Unfortunately, no matter how many times she repeated the word for the spell, it didn't work. After about a dozen tries, Meteora flipped to another page and gave up.

"I don't get it! How does this work? I cast that energy ball thing with ease. But this one doesn't work at all, except for when I got angry."

"Magic is a lot harder without something to channel it with. If you had a wand or some other magical object, it would probably work. But then again...magic is supposed to be dead. I wonder...maybe you used all your magic up with that spell."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, magic isn't just like some object. It's sentient. The spells are sentient, in a way. There were beings in the realm of magic that kept it running and safe from dark magic. They were sentient."

"Your saying that magic itself was sentient?"

"Maybe not all of magic, but definitely parts of it. And like any sentient creature, I'm betting it had self-preservation instincts."

"Meaning?"

"When Star cast the spell that destroyed it all those years ago, the magic knew somebody was trying to kill it. So small pieces of it hid. In places that even a spell like that couldn't find. In hard to reach dimensions, hidden places…" He turned towards Mariposa. "In people."

Meteora was taken aback. "Your saying that when magic was destroyed, some of it hid inside me and that's why I can use magic?"

"Sure. But this is all just a theory. Maybe magic is still around for other reasons. Maybe that spell just wasn't powerful enough. Maybe magic is contained in atomic form. Or maybe it's just...there. For some people. Like you. And Janna."

"And if your theory is correct, I used up the magic that was inside me for that energy spell? But what about the light spell I just cast?"

"Perhaps it was a faint glimmer, some final piece left. I don't know. But the only way to make sure is to keep trying."

"So I should find another spell to try and cast?"

"Yes. But unfortunately, that's gonna take hours to try each and every one in that book. At least the ones that are safe to use here. And that's not mentioning the ones in the other books." He pointed towards the piles of books that are still waiting to be read. "So we're going to need to catalogue which ones work and which ones don't. If any work at all that is."

"How?"

"I have an idea. But we're gonna need-"

The door to the library suddenly swung open. Archibald was standing in the doorway. "Hey." He said. "King Dave told me to check up on you guys to see what you were doing."

"We're fine. In fact, I was just talking about you."

"You were?"

"Well, I was about to. Anyways, I need something."

"What is it?"

"Do you have any pencils? Pens? Paper? Something to write with?"

"Some, yes." Archibald said.

"Anyway you could get us some?"

"We don't have many of those things left, but I might be able to get some if you have a good reason."

"Well, Meteora Just cast a spell and we want to see if she can cast any more and we need to catalogue the results."

Archibald just stood there, quietly processing everything that he had just said.

"Is...something wrong?" Jenkins asked.

"She used magic?'

"Yes."

"How?"

"That's what we're gonna find out. Hopefully, at least. Everything that's happening right now is kind of new. To me and Meteora. That's why we need those things I asked for. Maybe if we find out what spells she can cast, what types of spells she can cast, then maybe we can find out how. Then maybe I could learn magic, or Mariposa could, or even you could. I'm sure that if Janna can do it, then we can too."

"Janna?"

"The...person I mentioned to King Dave back when he met with us? I had a lot to say about her. You were right there the whole time."

"Oh, right. The evil magic person or something."

"Yeah. Her. Now, do you think that's reason enough to get what I asked for?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think that's good. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." With that, he walked off.

Jenkins sighed. "I like him. Always so helpful. I really hope he doesn't die in the demon civil war."

Meteora sat down in one of the chairs and leaned back on it. "Do you think there's really going to be a civil war?"

"Quite possibly. They are demons. I don't think they are really known for their diplomacy skills, Plus, people have fought over things stupider than this whole ordeal. Yes, I do think it will happen. And I don't want to be here when it does. In the end, I doubt much of anything will be left of the Underworld."

"Well, then when the war starts, it's in God's hands. Let's only hope he decides on a good outcome."

Jenkins made a "pfft" sound and looked at Meteora. "You this whole mess is in God's hands? Soon this will be in nobody's hands. Not God's. Not Dave's. Not mine. Not even Janna's. Nobody will be in control of this soon. We can't stay here. I've already witnessed the end of one dimension, I'd rather not witness the end of another."

Meteora had nothing to say to this. Even Relicor seemed to stop grumbling silently.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Archibald returned with a few sheets of paper and an old pen.

"Alright." He said. "I hope it's worth it. I had to do a lot of talking to get these. The supply is a lot smaller than I thought."

"What did you have to say?"

"The truth about what you guys were doing. It took them a while to believe me. Would have been helpful if you were there."

"You didn't ask."

"And I regret that. Now, is this enough?"

"This is perfect." Jenkins said. "Thank you."

"No problem. That's my job after all. Do you need anything else?"

"Nope. This is all we need."

"Alright. Now I have to go tell King Dave what you've been doing. He wanted to know." Archibald then left and closed the door behind him."

"...So he's basically the butler around this place, isn't he?" Meteora said.

"Seems like it. He was a butler before, so it would make sense for him to become one now. But enough about that. Now…"

Jenkins grabbed the spell book and opened to a random page.

"Let's see what you can do."

Three hours later…

"Try again."

"I already…"

"Just one more time."

"Okay." Meteora took a deep breath and attempted to cast the spell again. She lifted her arm and pointed it at Jenkins' hand wound.

"Super healing beam." Her hand then glowed slightly green, but other than that, nothing happened. She sighed.

"Told you. Doesn't work. Just like the last five times. And who named these things anyways?"

"Well, with hundreds of spells, you start to get lazy with the spell names. But that's another one to the "partially works" list."

It had been three hours. Meteora had done dozens of spells that were safe to use (at least in the library) and the outcome was usually the same. They had assembled three lists. The "works" list. The "doesn't work" list, and finally the "partially works" list. The "works" one only had a few in it, and beside the one with the purple ball, the first one she had cast, almost every spell had taken at least 3 tries.

On the other hand, the "doesn't work" list was overflowing with most of the spells. There was no reaction, and Jenkins had to stop her from getting angry at herself multiple times, lest she accidentally destroy a good portion of the library, even if the spells weren't created to destroy.

As for the "partially works" list, there were more there than the "works" list, but still nowhere near the "doesn't work" list. These ones had shown some reaction, but failed in the end. And there were only a few pages left in the book. The other books that were still waiting to be read wouldn't have any spells in them, so this was their last chance. Meteora flipped the page.

"Let's see what we have this tim-" she froze and stared at the spell on the page.

"What's wrong?"

"This spell, I think I've seen someone use it before."

"How so?" Then his eyes fell upon the page."

"A… dream communication spell? Who used that?"

"That voice I was talking to you about. Back at Janna's base."

"Oh right, I forgot about that in the middle of all of this. Do you think that's the same spell they used to talk to you?"

"It matched what I saw whenever they did. It says it allows the caster to speak with a chosen person in their dreams, and it also says they will meet in place of constant darkness, which also matches what I see. When that voice talks to me, it's always dark. There's no light anywhere. I think this is the one."

Jenkins continued staring at the page. "Use it."

"What?"

"Use the spell. It says that the caster only has to think of the person that they want to talk to, fall asleep, and it should work. If you think about this voice or whatever, and they're asleep, then you should be able to talk to them."

"Let me remind you that most of my attempts with spell casting today has failed."

"Well, if it doesn't work, then we'll just forget about it and keep going. But I want you to try this out. I want you to meet this voice on your terms. If it just invades your dreams, then you should be able to invade it's dreams. Now what does the book say to do?"

"It says... say the words on the page, think of the person or entity you want to meet with, and then just fall asleep. So, I guess I should just do that? But i don't even know it's name! I don't really know that much about it."

"I'm sure as long as you know who you're trying to contact, even if you don't know their name. Just think about them talking to you, and the things they said. it should be fine. You know what they sound like, and you know that they exist."

"What should I say to them?"

"..."

"Well?"

"Tell them that I want to talk to them."

"What?"

"I want to talk to them. I want to know who this person is. I want to know who you're talking to. I want to know why. So tell them to use that spell on me, and then I'll talk to it next time I fall asleep."

"What if they refuse?"

"Then I'll find another way. Now say those words, and try and go to sleep."

"I still don't think this is gonna work. They might not even be asleep you know. If they sleep at all."

"Like I said. Then we'll forget about it and deal with it later."

"Alright. I'll try."

And so Meteora read the words on the page, and thought as hard as she could about the voice, trying to remember everything about it, what It had said to her and everything it had said about itself which wasn't much. All while trying to fall asleep on the floor of the library. But she couldn't sleep. She got up off the ground.

"This isn't working. I can't fall asleep."

'Well, of course you can't. You're talking."

"That's not what I meant! Can't you knock me out or something so we can speed this up?"

Jenkins looked at her like she was crazy. "Okay, first off, no. No, I will not knock you out. I'm not going to hurt you like that just so we can "speed this up." Secondly, you have a skull fracture, remember? The only way i know how to knock you out would be with brute force, and the doctor said to not let you get any more injuries."

"Well, then this could take forever."

"Then so be it. But maybe there's a spell or something you can make up to knock yourself out."

"I'm sure that I won't be able to just make a spell up to knock myself out. I can hardly use spells that have already been invented."

"Wouldn't hurt to try. I've seen people make up spells before."

"You don't know that. I mean, what would I do?" She pointed her hand at her head. "Just point my hand at my head like this and then say "Sleep spell?"

Her hand suddenly started glowing yellow.

"What the-"

A beam of energy then immediately shot out of it and struck her in the head, and then she fell to the ground, unconscious. Jenkins stared at her in surprise.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Well, that's one for the "works" list."

**Somewhere else…**

Meteoras's eyes opened in surprise. It took her a moment to remember what had just happened. She looked around her. She was somewhere else, but she didn't know exactly where. It was too dark to tell.

She then vaguely remembered talking about a sleep spell and then accidentally shooting herself with it. She looked at her hands.

"I can't believe that spell worked." Then she remembered why she was doing this in the first place.

"Hey!" she called out. 'Are you here?"

For some reason, she didn't expect an answer, but she got one almost immediately.

"I am. But what are you doing here?" It was that same voice. The same one that talked to her in her dreams. The communication spell had worked, somehow.

"I came here to talk to you."

"Well, before we get into that, I want to know how you got here. Did you cast a spell?"

"Shouldn't you already know that? Aren't you watching me at all times?"

"It may come as a surprise to you, but I have things to do that don't include stalking you. I'm only watching you most of the time. Not all the time. And I was busy doing other things the last few hours. Now, answer my question, did you use a spell to get here?"

"Yes. I found the spell in one of the books at the Lucitor library. Or Relicor's study or whatever."

"So, you finally got around to doing that."

"What? Did- did you know I was going to cast a spell?"

"I meant going to that library."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I can't see the future, as much as I wish I could. Did you manage to cast any other spells?"

"A few, but I-. Wait. Are you asleep right now?"

"No."

"Okay, well then the spell either does not work like it's supposed to, or it works too well. It said it would only work on a person that was asleep."

"Well, I don't know what spell you cast, but i'm not asleep. I was just doing something, and then everything got dark and I was taken to this place. Just randomly. You literally forced me to come here with that spell."

"Are you able to do that to me?"

"No. I don't use a spell to talk to you."

"Wait, what?"

"I'll explain later. Or not. Depending. But as I was saying, why did you come here?"

"Ummm...Jenkins wants to talk to you."

"And how does he expect me to do that?"

"Can't you just do the same thing you do to me? Talk to him in his sleep."

"For one thing, he doesn't remember his dreams, so even if I did, he wouldn't recall squat. Plus, I don't want to talk to him in the first place."

"Why not?"

"Because I have my reasons. The only person I want to talk to is you. I only see you as worth talking too."

"Why? What about Mariposa? What makes me so special?"

"You used magic. Do you really think that just anybody can use magic?"

"Well, Yeah. Janna can use magic, and she's just a human. She doesn't even have a wand or anything."

"Are you sure?"

"...Okay, I feel like you know something important, and you're not telling me, and that could be a bad thing for us down the line."

"I don't tell you important things because those things are for you to figure out on your own."

"And what if I don't figure it out?"

"Then that is the way it is."

She sighed. This was getting nowhere. "I'm starting to regret casting this spell. Even though I lost more of my memories of my conversations with you, I feel like you weren't ever this annoying."

"You lost more of your memories? Which ones?"

"Well, I feel like you once told me why magic was gone, or at least why it's still here, but now I don't remember. I also forgot a lot of things from that time we met at Janna's base."

"That's...unfortunate. What do you remember?"

"Well, last time I remembered you said you were a friend, also that I accepted your offer to help me with things."

"All true. Next time we talk, I'll try and catch you up on any memories you missed."

"Can't you just tell me right now?"

"No. Because you made me come here. While I was in the middle of something. So I kinda want to get back to the real world. So please end this, if you would be so kind."

"How do I do that?"

"Imagine it ending. You're in control here."

"Okay." She imagined herself leaving and going back to the library. It seemed to be working, the area staying getting brighter, just like with what happened last time when she woke up.

"Oh, and one last thing."

"What is it?"

"You said that I told you I was a friend. I am. So I'd like you to treat me like one. Don't cast this spell on me again. I can't promise that you'll be safe if you miss me and accidentally go into the dreams of someone else."

"Who, like Janna?"

"Janna is dead."

"...Are you talking literally or figurativel-"

"Goodbye!"

Without warning, the area got so bright that Meteora had to close her eyes, and when she opened them, she was back in the library. Just like the other times.

"Did, did he end that forcefully, or did I do that?"

"so, you finally woke up."

"Hmm?"

Meteora looked to the side. Jenkins looked like he had been busy reading another one of the books from the pile when she had woken up.

"So, did it work? Did you meet that voice?"

"I did."

"And did you tell it I want to talk to-"

"It has no interest in talking to you." She interrupted.

"Figures. I honestly suspected as much. But did you get anything else out of that conversation?"

"Nope. It went by quick. It didn't seem that happy that I had just interrupted it...doing whatever it was doing. Also, it wasn't sleeping when we started talking."

"So, can you just talk with anybody you know, at any time, regardless of whether they're asleep or not?"

"Maybe? I don't know. But right now. I feel exhausted. I think that spell took it out of me."

"Makes sense. Casting spells like the one you just did would take a lot of energy."

"Actually, there was one thing I found interesting."

"What is it?"

"They said they don't use a spell to talk to me?"

They...don't?"

"That's what they said."

Jenkins immediately put his face in his hands and groaned in annoyance. "Great. Just great."

"What is it?"

"It's not really a person talking to you. It's more of an entity. No physical being I know of has the ability to do that naturally."

"So, it's not a human, Mewman, or monster?"

"Oh, It might not even have a body. Just a spirit."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is that whatever it has planned, I think it's in this for itself more than for you."

"How are you sure?"

"That's just how beings like that are. They aren't concerned with our problems."

"Well, this one seemed awfully concerned with mine. Which is all of our problems. It also said that it only wanted to talk to me. Not you. Not Mariposa. Just me."

"How convenient for it. Although that does confirm my suspicions that this voice was only talking to you. I had wondered if Mariposa was experiencing this as well."

"What do you think she's doing now?"

"Probably-"

The door to the library suddenly opened. It was Archibald. Again.

"Uh, hey, your kid is back from her mission."

Meteora looked at Archibald in surprise.

"You're kidding right, it's only been like three hours? They wouldn't even have time to get from here to there and back."

"Actually," Jenkins said. "It's been eight. You were asleep for 5 hours."

"Wait, seriously? Me and that voice were talking for only a few minutes."

"Time moves differently in dreams." Jenkins said. "It just happens. But yeah, seven hours is still a short time. Why is she back so early?"

Archibald rubbed his hands together with a look of someone who had to deliver bad news.

"Maybe it's because there's an army behind her…"

**End chapter 14**

**A/N: Bit of a cliffhanger. The next chapter(s)? will deal with how that situation got that bad. Sort of a flashback chapter. I hope this chapter was good, along with all the spell stuff.**

**That's all I have to say for this one. As always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	15. Chapter 15: Flashbacks and friendships

**A/N: Thank you to SonicE1337 for beta reading this chapter!**

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 15**

**Flashbacks and friendships**

"I will. I promise you that I won't fail."

With all that said, Mariposa turned towards the gate and walked out of it. Katrina was already waiting outside the gate for her. When Mariposa finally got out, the gate shut behind them.

Both just simply stood in silence.

"So…" Katrina said. "I guess we better get going. It's a long walk."

"Is this going to be safe? Are we going to have to fight anybody on the way there? I've already been attacked several times over the past few days and I'd rather not get attacked again."

"It should be fine. I heard about what happened. But we're not going to get randomly ambushed or anything. As long as we make sure to go through the areas that aren't that heavily patrolled by our enemies, we should be fine."

"But we could be attacked at any moment?"

"...Yeah."

"Hooray." Mariposa grunted sarcastically, "It's just like the real world."

"I actually have a few questions to ask you about the real world. I kinda want to know what it's like now."

Mariposa laughed. "You want to ask _me _questions? Usually it's the other way around. I'm usually the last person that gets asked for anything. But not right now, I just really want to get going, so maybe later."

"Alright, if that's how you want it to go, then let's roll."

With that, Katrina started walking along the side of the castle walls.

"Why are we going this way?" Mariposa asked, a tinge of concern in her voice.

"This is the best way to go if we don't want to get spotted by anyone, and subsequently, killed."

Mariposa swallowed, and with that she mustered an "Alright then." before trekking behind Katrina.

And so Mariposa followed her. After the castle walls ended, they kept walking in what seemed like random directions, with no landmarks or change in scenery to dictate where they were. Eventually the castle drifted out of view. The journey thus far had proven to be endless.

'_I hope she knows where she's going.' _Mariposa thought to herself. '_The last thing we need is to get lost in this place.' _Her worries grew with each step she took, as well as her impatience. _'I have no idea where anything is, I can't see the castle anymore, and the only thing I have to defend myself with is this lousy dagger. Even if it is unbreakable like Dave said, I won't be able to do much if I have to fight anything like we did before. And that couldn't have even been called much of a fight. What am I gonna do? Graze it to death? I should have asked Jenkins for his machete.'_

"So." Katrina suddenly said, startling Mariposa and bringing her back to reality.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

She raised her brow at the question "That's ironic for you to say. Last I checked you haven't said much more than I have."

"I was waiting for you to spark a conversation. Like, don't you want to talk or something? We're going to be waking for a good long while, and I'd like something to take my mind off of the fact that my feet hurt like something I shouldn't say, since kids could be reading and all."

"To put it bluntly, I don't really have a reason to talk to you. I don't really trust you all that much either, but then again I don't really trust anyone after what happened a few days ago."

"What happened?" Katrina perked, thankful to finally make conversation.

"Long story short, a person who was supposed to be one of Jenkins friends from the past turned out to be some magic wielding psycho that tried to kill us. I've got no clue why, so don't ask."

"Black priests, right?"

That stopped Mariposa in her tracks. "How'd you know?"

Katrina smiled and laughed. "Come on. I'm basically the number one spy for the Lucitors now. They tell me everything about any enemies they might have that could try to kill us and those priests are definitely on the list. They're actually pretty much the reason I became the best spy around."

"Let me guess, process of elimination?"

"Yup, and lemme tell you, it was not a good day. We tried to infiltrate their mountain base, but we couldn't find the entrance. Then they suddenly appeared on top of the cliffs, jumped down, and barraged us. I was the only one to come out alive…" She began to trail off, "...that was only because…"

Katrina stopped talking and her face spoke of regret. For a second, Mariposa thought she could see tears start to form in her eyes.

"...Anyways," she composed herself before carrying on, "I guess you and you're buddies encountered the black priests too huh?"

"Like I said, evil psycho friend from the past turned out to be their leader." Mariposa chose to ignore the sudden change in attitude for Katrina, but she'd definitely ask about it later.

"By the way, the entrance to their base is a hidden...door thing in the wall of the mountain pass. You can't see it because I think they use some kind of spell to disguise it."

Katrina seemed surprised at the revelation. "Well… That would have been nice to know for my mission."

"I doubt it would have made a difference. Their base is a maze. Every door looks the same and every hallway as well. If you had gotten lost in there, they would have probably found and killed you before you found your way out. We only escaped because we got lucky. It also helped that Evil Psycho Friend didn't chase after us personally."

"That's...a story I would like to hear."

"Tell you what, you tell me your story and I just might tell you mine."

"My story?"

"Yeah. How you got here, how you survived this long, everything like that."

"Why?"

"Like you said, we're gonna be walking for a long time, so I think I should at least get to know you a little better."

Katrina snickered to herself. "Works for me, glad you decided to come around." And with that, she began to tell her unfortunate tale to Mariposa.

"It all started back when some weirdo named Ludo gave my father some tadpoles-"

"Hold it." Mariposa interjected. "Not from the _very_ beginning. Just from when the apocalypse comes into play."

"Oh, right, my bad." She laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Well, me, my father and my siblings were at home when it struck. Well, it was more of a blast, but whatever." She rambled. "It was on the very edge of the city, somewhere near the outlands I think. The bomb hit, and although the blast itself didn't get to us, the shockwave caused the ceiling to collapse and it took two days before someone found us. It was other monsters, from the monster temple."

"Archibald's group."

"Yeah, that's them. They had spent some time looking for Queen Eclipsa, but after they realized that she had disappeared for the time being, they started trying to help the people that were like us, y'know, people who couldn't help themselves. But then we got attacked by an invisible enemy."

"The radiation, right?" Mariposa asked.

Katrina nodded solemnly.

"Archibald already told me what happened. Half of you died because of it, but some monsters were immune, right?"

"That's right, and I was lucky, but most of my siblings weren't. Only a few of us survived, myself included, along with my father." She voice grew quiet, "He nearly went insane with grief."

Mariposa was silent. She didn't know what to say in this kind of scenario. Archibald's story was terrible, but this one was worse. How much suffering had all these people had been through? She realized that she was probably extremely lucky that she couldn't remember the beginning.

"After that, we found the Underworld portal, and then...you probably know what happened next. They took us in, we got jobs, and I was made a spy. And we all lived saddily ever after."

"Forgive me for asking, but what about your father? What happened to him?"

"I…" Katrina paused. "I don't want to talk about it."

Mariposa nodded. "I understand. Everyone has stories that they would rather forget."

"I have more than I care to remember. But now it's your turn. What's your story? How did you get to this point?"

"Well, there are some parts I'm not really sure on. I was too young to remember the first few years of this."

"Consider yourself lucky."

"Yeah, I'm already a step ahead of you there. After hearing Archibald's story a day ago, I definitely consider myself lucky now. But I do remember the stories Jenkins told us."

"That's the guy that you were with earlier, right? Your dad or something?"

"He's...not my actual dad. He basically just adopted me and my sister. He's been trying to get us back to our real parents since all this started. As far as I'm concerned, he's been living in this hell for a long time, long before he ever found me.

"Awww…" Katrina said. "That's actually kinda nice. But do you know how he managed to actually take possession of you two?"

"I don't know. He hasn't told us. I'm not even sure if he remembers himself. Anytime we asked him about it, he always got a far-away look like he was trying to remember something, but couldn't."

"Well, that's pretty inconvenient, but is there anything you do know?"

"Well, he somehow took possession of me and Meteora, and then-"

"Whoa. Slow down." Katrina said. "Meteora? As in, Queen Eclipsa's daughter?"

"The one and only."

"You're kidding! I had a chance to meet her right there and then and I didn't even know it! I'm so stupid! She was right there and I didn't even know!"

"Ummm, you're making it sound like my sister is some kind of celebrity."

"Um, well no offence, but she overshadows you by a long-shot! Or, at least, she did. You see, due to the fact that she was a hybrid between a Monster and a Mewman, she was seen as the perfect example of harmony between Mewmanity and Monsters. People were sometimes really excited to meet her, because that's what we wanted, harmony between both of our peoples, with no boundaries to keep us apart. Plus, she was the Queen's daughter, so, you know, royalty."

"So the whole kingdom just swooned over her?"

"Well, It was mostly monsters, but there were also a few Mewmans that were really accepting of the idea, since even after the merge, there was still a lot of hate."

"You guys all seemed fine back at that dining hall. I didn't see you there, but nobody looked like they wanted to kill one another. They sat down next to each other and didn't do anything hateful or uncivilized, it was actually quite nice."

"Well, the whole apocalypse thing kinda showed us that due to the fact that most of us were dead, it would be pointless if we all hated and killed each other. We eventually realised that it was one guys fault we were in an apocalyptic wasteland to begin with, so we had a common enemy, although we still don't know exactly who it was that did it."

"Seth."

Katrina nearly choked on the air. "What?"

"Seth of Septaris. He stormed the E.D.F.'s headquarters, took control of its nuclear division and dropped the bombs."

"Who told you that?"

"Jenkins. He's told us everything that we know."

Katrina slowly began walking towards Mariposa, a look in her eyes that screamed for Mariposa to never lie. "Are you sure that's what happened?"

"Well, take it for what you will, but that's what he said. I'm not really 100% on it, but for now, that's the answer I got, so that's the one I'm going with. Now, as I was saying, Jenkins took possession of me and Meteora, and basically raised us."

Katrina backed off, a new found determination rising within her. "How does someone raise two babies by themselves, while probably constantly running short on food and water, and with the constant looming threat of being attacked at any waking second?"

"Beats me, but he did it. All he told us is that those were the _'hardest years'_," she used air quotes. "But not for us, we honestly don't remember anything."

"What's your first memory? When did you start remembering things?" Katrina asked curiously.

"The first thing I remember? Probably…me and my sister eating some kind of meat that had just been roasted. I can still remember the taste and the heat from the fire. I think I was four at that time."

"That's an odd thing to remember. How did you survive out there?"

"Most of the food we found went to Meteora and I and after a while, I think our bodies kinda adapted or something to not having that much to eat or drink. Then I remember the lessons."

"Lessons?"

"Yeah, lessons. He spent countless hours teaching us things. How to find things in ruins, how to defend ourselves, how to kill people, how to properly-"

"He taught you how to kill people?"

"Yeah, kind of a necessary skill if you ask me. It came in handy more than once."

"You've...killed people before?"

"You haven't?" Mariposa questioned, a little stunned at her response.

"No, actually…" Katrina stopped. "I've never killed a person... And I hope I never have to."

"Didn't Dave say you were a great combatant though?"

"Yes, I am. But I was taught to incapacitate, and only to kill as a last resort."

"Who taught you this?"

"My father."

"Well, Jenkins taught me to kill as a first resort if someone attacked us. But I think that was because he was a little over-protective of us. He didn't want us to get hurt."

Katrina remained silent for a moment, wondering if she really wanted to ask her next question. She did.

"So how many people have you killed?"

"I'm not sure to be honest, it's probably a little over ten, I think? But if it makes you feel any better, it was all in self defense and I didn't enjoy any of it. I only kill when I have to. It's not fun..." her voice became shrill.

"...At all."

Mariposa saw Katrina give her a sympathetic look. "It's okay. I believe you. Besides, you don't really have a "killer" vibe anyway." She chuckled. "How about the later years, what happened then?"

"Nothing much. We survived, one day at a time. Some were worse than others and some were better, but almost all of them could be described as "_bad."_ All we did was walk, eat, scavenge, fight when we had to, and do the same thing all over again. It was actually pretty boring now that I look back on it."

"Sounds harsh."

"It was."

"Well… what's the real world like? Is there anything left?"

"There's not much. Forests are piles of burned wood, cities are just mountains of rubble, and everything else is straight up destroyed. There's not much left, even after 15 years. But that's the apocalypse for you."

"It's...really all gone? But we've been making plans to leave in five years! To start anew and remake the world." Katrina's voice started dropping, as if she were losing faith in the dream that she and everybody else in the castle yearned to one day fulfill.

"I don't know what to tell you, but no matter what I do or say, it doesn't change the fact."

"There's...nothing?" Katrina's voice cracked.

Mariposa stayed silent. How long had they been planning this "rebuilding" thing? Since the very beginning? She couldn't just make it sound like everything was pointless in the end. She would never do that, it wasn't fair to anybody. They still had to have hope.

"That's not entirely true! There might still be some things left. There's still good people out there, people like you who want to rebuild. We've only met a few, but they are definitely out there."

A complete lie. Mariposa had only met one other person like that, and he honestly seemed like he was insane. They had quickly left that guy behind, thinking nothing of it, but he was the only other one who still had hope for a new world. Everybody else had accepted what the world was. They had accepted that it was impossible to change it back, that there was just too few of them to make a change...

"But umm… yeah… that's my story."

"That's really it?"

"I mean, I have a few stories about people we've encountered, but most of them go the same."

"And that is…" Katrina said with expectancy.

"They try to steal from us, so we tell them to leave. They don't, and we kill them."

"That's kind of brutal."

"Please, you wouldn't know the half of it. I've got stories that are waaaaay worse."

"Tell me one."

That took Mariposa off guard for a second. "Why would you want me to-"

"Because I have learned that the best way to know somebody is to have them tell you their deepest and darkest memories. That way you know the absolute worst of them, and you know who they really are. Who they can be."

"That's kind of an odd method."

"It's worked so far, so c'mon and spill the beans."

"Alright then, you want it to hear the worst thing I've ever done? I'll tell you. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"No promises. But I'm sure that whatever you did, it can't be _that _bad."

"You think so? Well, then you better prepare yourself then. So about five years ago…"

**Flashback time...five years ago**

"What does it say?"

"I don't know."

"You're not even looking. You're never going to learn if you don't try."

"Why are you making me learn this at all? There are hardly any books left anyways."

"You're eleven years old. I promised myself that I would teach you to read by the time you were twelve."

"Like you promised you would get us back to our parents?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean that."

"That was a really low blow, Meteora."

Mariposa sighed and looked away at the rather boring spectacle she had been watching. Jenkins had been trying to teach them how to read with a few old books he had found, but neither of them saw any point in it, Meteora in particular. She flopped onto her back and attempted to make shapes out of the few clouds in the sky. She couldn't make anything out. Except maybe a few-

"Mariposa, come over here." That was Meteora's voice.

"Why?"

"Because it's your turn."

Mariposa got up and walked over to them. "Okay, let's get this over with."

"Great." Jenkins said. He pointed to one of the sentences on the page. "What does it say?"

"Something something house."

"Okay, now the first word. Try and spell it out."

Mariposa narrowed her eyes and concentrated on the words on the page. She didn't recognize many of them. Only a few. She thought this would be easy, but it was much harder than she thought.

"I don't know what it says. Can you tell me?"

Jenkins rolled his eyes. "It says-"

"It _says _to give us all your supplies. Now." A gruff voice demanded.

They all turned around. There were four people. Two adults, a man and a woman, and two children, a boy and a girl. The girl looked like she was about seventeen, and the boy looked no older than Meteora and Mariposa, but all of them carried knives and all of them looked dangerous.

Jenkins quickly got up, grabbed Meteora and Mariposa, and threw them behind him. He then grabbed his knife and pointed it at the people in front of them.

He spoke. "What do you want?"

The teenage girl spoke. "Didn't you hear us? We want your stuff. Give it to us, and there won't be a problem. Refuse, and we kill you."

"Yeah, not doing that. I've dealt with your kind of prowl before, and I'll do it again."

"Tell you what, don't give them to us, and we'll kill your two little girls first."

Jenkins' face twisted, his voice filled with rage. "If you hurt them in anyway, I'll rip out your intestines and strangle you to death with them!"

"You wouldn't do that to a couple of kids, would you?" she sounded cocky.

"After all the people I've killed to protect them, I really don't care who it is that's on the sharp end of this knife, so get the hell out of here! _NOW!_"

The group took a step backwards, afraid. But they didn't go any further.

The man spoke up, a small shake in his voice. "We need those supplies and we're not leaving without them."

"Well then, it looks like we have a bit of a dilemma, don't we?" Jenkins spat.

The air was tense. Meteora and Mariposa weren't sure what to do. They didn't have any weapons. And while Meteora was much stronger than she was, and both of them had received endless hours of lessons on how to defend themselves, they were outnumbered. This probably wouldn't end in their favour.

"Last chance." Jenkins said. "Leave us alone." his grip on the knife getting tighter.

But they stayed, not speaking a word.

Jenkins growled. "Well, if your not leaving, then attack us. Then we'll see who ends up on the chopping block."

As if Jenkins had given permission, the man lunged forward with his knife, hoping to stab Jenkins in the chest. Everybody else froze, even the woman he was with and the two children seemed surprised at the sudden move.

As if in slow motion, Jenkins sidestepped the attack and with his own knife, quickly slashed the man's throat. The man fell, clutching his neck, choking on his own blood. In a few moments, he stopped, and fell over, dead.

Both the woman and the two children looked horrified. The woman had tears in her eyes "You killed him!" she screamed.

"And you didn't leave when you had the chance. Now, are going to leave us be or-"

The woman charged as well.

"Yeah, didn't think so." Jenkins said.

She raised her arm, attempting to stab him, but Jenkins simply grabbed her hand, head butted her and drove her own knife into her chest. She cried out in agony and then fell to the ground, dead.

As for the two children, they didn't move. They just stared at the bodies.

"I hate having to do that." Jenkins said, a look of disgust on his face. He looked at the two children that were left. "So what's it going to be with you two? Are you going to try and attack me as well, or are you going to get the memo and leave?"

"Wait." Meteora said. "We're just going to leave them out here?"

Jenkins turned to meet Meteora's eyes. "Well, what the hell else am I supposed to do? I can't take care of four people, plus, they'll probably try to kill us."

"They'll die out there!"

"I- ugh. I don't know-"

"Look out!"

Jenkins turned around and saw the boy coming towards him with a large rock in his hands. He sighed and casually punched the boy in the face, sending him flying onto his back, the rock dropping at his feet.

"Anyone else?"

The teenage girl spoke a look of pure, unfiltered hatred in her eyes. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SORRY SACK OF SHIT!" She then pulled something out of her pocket.

Jenkins eyes widened. It was a taser. An actual taser. He rushed forward at the girl, but it was too late. She pulled the trigger, and the wires that came out of it hit their mark. Jenkins fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The girl grabbed her knife, and the boy that Jenkins had sent to ground grabbed his as well.

"Your going to die for what you've done." the boy said. Both of them moved forward.

"No! Stop!" Meteora said. She grabbed Jenkins knife off the ground and stepped in between them and him.

"Don't hurt him. If you do...then I'll kill you!"

"That's cute." The girl said. "Joe." She turned to the boy. "I'll take this one, if you can get the other." The boy nodded, and moved towards Mariposa.

"Uhh…" Mariposa said. "You wouldn't kill an eleven year old, would you?"

The boys eyes narrowed. "I'm the same age as you. That makes it fair game."

The boy rushed at her. Mariposa tensed, and her combat training kicked it. Without even thinking, she punched the boy in the throat, then grabbed his arm and twisted it as hard as she could, breaking it. He fell to the ground, clutching his arm and screaming.

The girl looked on in shock. She turns towards Mariposa. "You're going to pay for that! Now-"

"Don't forget about me!" Meteora said. She leapt at the girl and punched her as hard as she could, knocking out several of her teeth and knocking her out instantly.

The boy got up off the ground. He pointed the knife at them. "Even with one arm, I can still take you."

Mariposa frowned. "Just, please back off. I don't want to hurt you anymore that I already have."

"Doesn't matter!" He ran at her. Mariposa braced herself for another attack attempt.

But instead of attacking her, he ran to the side at the last moment, and went straight for Meteora. Meteora tried to dodge it, but the attack was too sudden and fast, and she didn't have time to react, with the boy managing to slash her right cheek with the knife, leaving a giant cut. Meteora cried out in pain and stumbled backwards.

The boy looked back at Mariposa."Now _you're _going to leave or I'm going to kill your sister and then-"

But Mariposa didn't listen. She charged as fast as she could, blind with rage at what just happened. She then slammed into him, making him drop his knife and sending him to the ground. He looked up groggily at Mariposa, who was now on top of him. She looked around and found what she was looking for: The rock that the boy had attempted to attack Jenkins with. She grabbed it with both hands and held it above her head, ready to attack him.

The boy attempted to put his hands up in defense. "Whoa! Wait! You don't have to-"

Too late. She brought the rock down as hard as she could, smashing his face in. But she didn't stop. She raised the rock again and hit him again, pausing each time she hit him.

"DON'T. YOU. DARE. HURT. MY. SISTER!"

She didn't stop, never stopped, not even after his movement had ceased entirely and there was nothing left to hit.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, after she was hitting the ground more than his head, she stopped and threw the now crimson painted rock to the side and got up, breathing heavily. She looked down at the boy, whose "head" was now nothing more than a bloody, pulpy mess of bone and brain matter.

She then looked back at Meteora, who was staring at her in fear.

"We have to go." Mariposa said. "Get the supplies."

"But-"

"NOW!"

"Okay. Okay. Okay." Meteora quickly gathered the supplies that they had, it was the one time she was thankful they didn't have all that much. Mariposa walked over to Jenkins, crushed the taser with her foot and yanked the wires out. At this point, he was completely unconscious. Mariposa grabbed some of the supplies as well, and grabbed one of Jenkins arms.

"Help me carry him. Let's get out of here."

Meteora walked over to them and grabbed Jenkins other arm. She then looked back at the unconscious girl.

"We, we can't just leave her here!"

"Yes, we can! Let's go!"

Meteora seemed to want to argue further, but the look on Mariposa's face dissuaded her from saying anything else. They both slung Jenkins arms over their shoulders, slung their bagged supplies over his shoulders, and ran off as fast as they could.

After a few minutes, they stopped and fell to the ground. Mariposa looked like she was about to throw up. She had realized what she had just done.

"Oh, god. What did I do?" Mariposa said. "I just...I just killed that boy. I didn't even hesitate. He probably wasn't even older than me. I-"

"Hey." Meteora said. "I know. I know. But you did it to protect me."

"But that girl, she's going to wake up to that. What is she even going to do?"

"Don't think about that. I know I don't want to. Let's just go."

Mariposa looked at her. With tears in her eyes.

"Please. Let's just go."

Mariposa nodded. They grabbed their supplies and Jenkins and carried on, trying to forget everything that had just happened, even though they knew they never would.

_**Back in the present day...**_

"And...that's the whole story. Jenkins woke up a while later, we told him what happened, he hugged me because I started crying, and we never saw that girl again. Never. So there. That was the worst thing I ever did."

She looked back at Katrina, expecting her to call her a monster for doing that, to run away In fear. But she didn't. She simply stared in silence.

"I know it's bad, but I did it to-"

"I abandoned them." Katrina said.

"What?"

Katrina started talking, with tears in her eyes and her voice trembling.

"The group of people I was with, to spy on the black priests. We left the Underworld portal and traveled to the mountain pass. We didn't find anything. We tried as hard as we could to find an entrance, but there was nothing.

But then they arrived. We saw them. Dozens of them. We only had a few weapons, but even if we were armed with machine guns we wouldn't be able to stop them. They leapt down to attack us. They didn't hesitate. They said something about us trespassing, and how we would pay. They took out their knives, and they, they…"

"Hey." Mariposa said. "It's okay. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I have to do this... They attacked us. We had no chance. My best friend, the first friend I'd made in this hell-hole, he died first. Protecting me from their blades. The rest, well, they fell just like flies.

But as for me? I'm not sure if I was lucky, if they let me go on purpose, or if they were just too busy slaughtering the others to notice me, but I saw an opening and I ran, without ever looking back. I didn't hesitate to run. I didn't try to help them. I only thought of myself in that moment. I had to get away. I ran. I ran until I got back to the portal and I collapsed from exhaustion. The guards there took me back to the castle and I lied straight to their faces. They bought it, I got to keep my dignity, but I now carry the weight of all the people that died on that mountain.

So there, that's what I did. That's the thing I regret most. Your story doesn't seem bad to me, because you killed someone, but I just left someone to die. And if you ask me, that's a hell of a lot worse."

"Katrina."

"Ye-yeah?" she croaked, tears rolling out of her eyes.

"You did what you had to do to survive. We all do things we can never take back and it's hard, but we can push past it, and never let it drag us down, no matter what."

"Th-that's nice. Hey, can you hug me or something? I kind of need it after that."

"Yeah. Sure." She stepped forward and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks."

"It's no problem."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"So, are we friends now?" Katrina asked.

"After that?" Mariposa said. "Yeah. Yeah, I think we kind of have to be friends."

They let go of each. "We should really get going." Mariposa said. "We've already wasted enough time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

So they set off again, and this time, Mariposa was a little more eager to talk to Katrina.

But after several more hours of walking, they finally reached what appeared to be several large piles of rocks.

Katrina crouched down and gestured for Mariposa to do the same. They both slowly moved towards the pile and climbed up to get a better view. When they reached the top, Mariposa saw why Katrina wanted to be a little more stealthy.

It was a fortress. It looked like the Lucitor castle, but flatter and without as many towers. There were guards everywhere, all marching the look of the guards that had attacked them. This was no doubt their base.

"So," Mariposa whispered. "That's the place?"

"Yeah." Katrina replied. "That's it."

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's get this party started for real."

**End chapter 15**

**A/N: Well, Mariposa's finally made a friend. But don't expect their happy little friendship to last long. There are two chapters left in the first arc, and I can promise you that things are not going to be good. **

**Oh, and thank you again to SonicE1337 for beta reading this chapter.**

**And as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	16. Chapter 16: It's infiltration time

**A/N: Thank you to SonicE1337 for beta-reading this chapter!**

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 16**

**It's infiltration time**

"So, what's the plan?" Mariposa asked.

Katrina opened her bag and pulled out what seemed to be a piece of paper. It look extremely old and worn out, as if it would fall to pieces at any moment. She set the paper on the ground, and Mariposa looked it over. It looked like some kind of map for the fortress that they were breaking into. Same shape, same towers, same everything, at least from how it looked on the outside. The Lucitor's must have stolen it years ago, judging by the apparent age of it.

"This is the plan." Katrina replied. "This fortress is patrolled by guards at every possible entrance. Except for this one." She pointed to what appeared to be some kind of hole on the map.

"This is a small hole made by an attack force during a war hundreds of years ago. All the maps and layouts for the fortress were updated to show it after the war. Due to the fact that the people In this fortress had won that war, they assumed that they wouldn't have to worry about any other enemies. They likely forgot about it over time. But we didn't."

"And now," Mariposa said. "They're making their own enemies."

"And they've been particularly ruthless enemies. They fight without regret. They don't see us as individual people. They see us as the enemy, nothing more. Just a problem that needs to be exterminated, quickly and quietly."

"Based on what I've heard, they're not doing either of those things while fighting you."

"Unfortunately, yes. We all feel like another war is about to break out. And this time, I don't think either side will win. Not when the other Underworld kingdoms join in the fight. It's going to be a bloodbath, and at the end of it all, the Underworld will be occupied by nothing but piles of corpses."

"Well," Mariposa raised her hand and pointed at the "sky"."That's just more of the same of what's up there."

Katrina laughed, but it was empty and humorless. "If you say so. You're used to it, aren't you?"

"More than you know…" Mariposa said, reminiscing on all the things she had seen.

She shook the thoughts off. They had a mission to accomplish. It was all or nothing now. "So, how do we get to that hole? I would assume they would have covered it up by now."

"They did." Katrina said. "Buuuuut unlike the rest of the castle, they couldn't find any more of that mostly indestructible stone to rebuild it with. There was none left after the war. It had all been used to built fortresses and castles and the like. So they used regular stone. So, if we're quiet and lucky enough, we should be able to break through it."

Mariposa was taken aback at this. "How are we going to break through a stone wall quietly enough that nobody will hear us? Do we even have anything that can do that?" Mariposa asked, being taken aback by the suggestion.

Katrina grinned. "It's simple." She climbed back on top of the rock pile and pointed to one of the few towers protruding from the fortress.

"You see that?"

"Yeah. What's so special about it?"

"There's a bell in that tower. A very, _very_ large bell. At the same time every day, they ring it. I thinks it's to tell people that it's midday or something similar, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. All you need to know is that big boy over there," Katrina pointed to the tower, "is really dang loud. So loud that the sound kinda sticks around for a good few seconds afterwards by the echo. So if we can break that wall in under… let's say three seconds, then we're golden."

"Three seconds?! No offense, but are you out of your-"

"Hush child, trust me." Katrina placed a finger over Mariposa's lips. "We planned for everything. Dave gave us everything we needed, I'll show you in a second."

"...You guys have been doing reconnaissance on this place for a while, haven't you?"

"Just me for the most part, but yeah, we have."

"Just you?" Mariposa looked at her in surprise. "But Dave said that you work better with other people, like me, or do you not want with other people because of-"

"No." Katrina suddenly interjected. "Not because of... _that_. I work with other people when I actually infiltrate places. But when I just scout out an area, and stuff like that, I prefer to go about it alone. It helps me concentrate. It's just me, myself, and the mission I'm on, with no interruptions. Plus, it gives me something to do when I don't need to infiltrate."

"You always need to infiltrate." Mariposa replied.

They both looked at each other with sky grins curving on their lips.

"Speaking of infiltration, in about…"

Katrina then reached into her bag and pulled out what appeared to be some kind of timer. "...Ten minutes, we need to break down this wall."

"What would have happened if we didn't?"

"Choice is we wait for tomorrow or try and ring the bell ourselves from here."

"Well, that would be fun." Mariposa said sarcastically. "But what are we gonna break the wall with?"

"Ermm… I guess you could call it a miniature battering ram."

"...Are you serious?" Mariposa asked, completely unimpressed.

"Don't judge me, I work with what I can. Open your bag."

Mariposa did as she was told, opening the bag and moving several items aside until she found what appeared to be some kind of large cylinder-shaped piece of metal.

"I take it this is it?"

"Yeah. Get it out and I'll get my own." With that, Katrina started rummaging around in her own bag.

Without questioning how something so large could fit in the pack, like any other person would, Mariposa grabbed the object with both hands and lifted it out of the bag, which suddenly felt lighter, funny that.

"Jeez, this thing is pretty damn heavy!" She said, slightly struggling to get a good grip on it.

"It needs to be." Katrina replied. "Can't get through the wall without it." Katrina said, lifting her own piece out of her bag and setting it down.

"And now, we just have to ram the walls with these things."

"Wait." Mariposa said. "So, we're just going to pick these things up and ram the wall with them? And we have to break it in less than three seconds?"

"Yes. We didn't really have any other plans. Using small tools would take too much time, so we had to go for the brute force method. But if I ram it first, and then you ram it _immediately _afterwards, it should be damaged enough from the first strike that the second will take it down."

"But you have no idea if that'll actually work, do you?"

"Never said I did, but this is the best chance we got."

Mariposa thought about all this for a moment, except for how the ram fit in her bag, because who needs logic, am I right? "Well, then. Let's give it our all."

"That's the spirit." Katerina said, smiling. She then looked back at her timer and her eyes widened. "Crap. Only five minutes left. Come on, grab that thing and let's get going."

"Are we only going to take these?"

"No, get that dagger out of the bag too, and the map, we're definitely going to need that." She then grabbed the "battering ram" and slowly started going down over the other side of the rock pile, trying not to be seen."

"Alright then." Mariposa then looked in her bag and found what she was looking for. The "unbreakable" dagger that Dave gave them. Hopefully it lived up to its name. She grabbed it, shoved it in her pocket, then grabbed the large piece of metal (with difficulty) and followed Katrina.

"Hurry up!" Katrina whispered. "We only have four minutes."

"It's kinda hard when I'm carrying something straight out of an armory on my back!" Mariposa said in annoyance.

Finally, after roughly three minutes of sneaking around the rocks and the gazes of any guards, they managed to get to the wall. This section of the wall did look slightly different than the rest of the fortress. The material was obviously not the same, even if it seemed like they tried to hide this fact.

"This is the wall? What room is behind it? What are we gonna break into?" Mariposa asked.

"According to the map, it _should _be a storage room. Nobody should be in there right now."

"And if it isn't? Or if its not empty?"

"Then we get found out and killed, most likely."

"You just have the best way of making everything all sunshine and rainbows, you know that?" she asked in a joyous and overly gleeful voice.

"I'm not immune to sarcasm, you know." She looked back at the timer. "Alright, we've got one minute so get behind me. The second the bell rings, I'll hit the wall and then I'll move out of the way and you hit it directly afterwards. We have to do this perfectly, otherwise we're pretty much dead."

"Again, you're really good at painting a pretty picture."

"Hardy har, just lift up the ram."

They both lifted up their "battering rams" and got ready.

Both Mariposa and Katrina's hearts beat faster and faster as Katrina's times counted down the seconds. Only ten seconds left.

"Not yet...almost…" Katrina said, with a tone of extreme nervousness in her voice.

The timer hit zero.

Almost instantaneously, a massive ringing sound rang out. The sound seemed to echo across the entire Underworld, and it almost seemed like it came from every direction. It took an enormous amount of self-restraint for Mariposa to not let go of the battering ram and cover her ears. It was almost deafening.

"Now!" Katrina said, no longer having to whisper her words. She charged at the wall and struck it as hard as she could. There was a large cracking sound, but it was hardly audible under the still present sound of the bell. She then quickly threw the battering ram to the side and looked at Mariposa.

She didn't even have to say anything. Mariposa did the same motion as Katrina, rushing forward and slamming the battering ram into the wall. But this time, a small section of it was smashed in, eventually widening to become a three foot wide hole. The sounds of the falling bricks and masonry stopped just as the bells chiming did.

They both listened carefully to the sounds around them for yells, shouts, or anything else that might reveal that they had been found.

There was nothing.

Both of them let out a sigh of relief and stared at each.

Katrina nodded her head towards the hole. "Let's go." She whispered.

She crawled inside it, and Mariposa followed.

"You know," Katrina said, her voice barely audible. "I'm surprised that worked."

"You didn't think it would?"

"I hoped it would. But I didn't entirely expect it to."

Mariposa sighed. "Of course you didn't. But anyways, let's see where we are. Hopefully that map was correct."

They scanned their surroundings. Thankfully, the map did in fact seem correct. There were just piles of random boxes. From any eternal perspective, it just seemed like a storage room.

"Well," Katrina said. "That map was right, thank god. And now, we can actually do the mission."

"You mean killing their leader, finding their plans for the next attack against the Lucitors, and freeing any prisoners that they might have?"

Katrina nodded. "Yep. That's all of it. And by the way, if it's okay with you, I would prefer that you do any killing that we have to do."

"I understand. You don't want to ever kill anybody, right?"

"Yeah. I'd like some kind of clean streak. Makes me feel a little better about myself. But you know, I feel like the third objective is kinda pointless, under the circumstances."

"You too? You know, I don't see why they would keep anybody alive. You do know that they cut off the heads of all their enemies, right? I saw a pile of heads that they had left firsthand. Not the worst thing I've seen, but still pretty unpleasant." Mariposa said, shuddering at the memory.

"I've seen that as well. Which is why I feel like it's pointless. But King Dave had hope that their might be somebody that they didn't kill, so we have to take the chance."

"Well, let's try and complete the first objective first. So who's the leader of this little group of demons anyways. Who do we- I mean, who do I have to kill? Who are they?"

"They call themselves Drosid. But everybody suspects that that's not their real name. It's likely just a code name. They're apparently a very large yellow demon. Dave said that when we see them, we'll know its them."

"And how do we find this Drosid?"

"With this." Katrina held up the blueprints. "We find out where he should be staying. Then we go and ambush and kill him if he's there. If he isn't, then we find the plans for any attacks, try and free the non-existent prisoners, and get the hell out of here. Mission hopefully accomplished."

"If he isn't in his room or whatever…" Mariposa said. "Can't we just wait for him there, and then kill him when he goes back there?"

"We can't." Katrina said. "Remember what we just did." She pointed at the hole in the wall that they had created. "If we stay here too long, then they might find that before we can leave. And then they will know we're here, seal off the hole or leave someone to guard it, and then we will be trapped. And we'll never get out without being killed."

"Well, then let's get going, if speed is of the essence."

"Agreed." Katrina said. She then walked past the piles of numerous boxes in the room and towards a large door at the end of the room.

"Mariposa, come here and get out that dagger. If someone's behind that door, I need you to kill them."

Mariposa walked over it the door with the dagger in her hand, but with a look of doubt on her face. "Those demons that I saw back at the portal were huge. At least twice as tall as me. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to even wound one with this dagger, much less kill."

"The people who attacked you at the portal aren't the same type of demons that are in this part of the fortress."

Mariposa looked at Katrina in confusion. "What are you-"

The door suddenly swung open.

And there, standing in the doorway, was a demon. A very large demon. Granted, it was still smaller than the demons that Mariposa had seen back at the portal, but it was still much larger than either of them. Both Mariposa and Katrina stared at him in surprise, and he stared back.

Nobody moved. They just looked at each other in surprise.

But then the demon spoke, with an obvious and deep tone of surprise. "What in the hell-"

Mariposa didn't wait for him to say anything further. She quickly leapt up towards him and stabbed him in the throat with the dagger, and then gripped it as tight as she could and slashed the knife to the side as hard as she could, resulting in it coming out the side of his neck and partially decapitating him.

The now dead demon fell to the floor with a loud THUD, a sound which echoed throughout the hallways.

Mariposa quickly backed away and shook the blood off the knife with a look of disgust in her face. "Great. demon blood. Got some on my clothes as well. I doubt that's ever going to come out. Not that I have anything to wash it with anyways. But I guess I see what you were saying. This guy is a lot smaller and less armored than those guys at the portal."

Katrina ignored the comment and looked around in fear. "We have to leave. Now."

"What? Why?"

"Somebody could have heard that. We can't take any chances. We have to go." Katrina turned around and started running towards the hole in the wall, but Mariposa grabbed her shoulder.

"No." She said. "No. We came this far, and I'm not leaving without seeing it out to the end. We're not leaving. We have to finish this."

"No Mariposa, we don't. We can always come back later." But Katrina's voice indicated that she didn't believe her own words, and Mariposa picked up on that.

"You don't believe that. By the time we come back, they will have sent another guy to find out where this guy went and they will find the hole and then they will seal it up. And then they'll be no second chance. So we have to do this now. And besides, do you hear anybody else coming this way? Nobody heard that. Because If they did, we would know by now."

"Maybe not right now, but somebody could find that body and then we get found and we will die."

"Then that's how it's gonna happen. I've lived a good life."

Katrina was taken aback by this. "Really? You think you have?"

Mariposa paused for a moment, as if she didn't even realized what had just come out of her mouth. "...Hell no. It's been a terrible life. I just say that in my mind or to other people when I think I'm about to die to try and convince myself of it. But it never works. That probably says something bad about me."

Katrina shifted nervously in place. She wondered if hat story Mariposa had told her earlier really was the worst of it.

"But," she continued, "That doesn't matter. Now, are you with me or not?"

"I-" Katrina paused. This could go several ways. Maybe nobody had heard that. But if this guy was going to the storage room, then he was sent to get something. And if he didn't get it fast enough, then somebody else would be sent to investigate. They would have to be even faster than Katrina thought they would need to be if they had any hope of accomplishing any of their goals.

But Mariposa was right. This was their only chance. They had to take risks. Even if it meant death. But they still had to be realistic here. They could only do so much with the possible time frame they had.

"Alright." Katrina said, about with difficulty, as if she had trouble even letting the words leave her mouth in the first place. "I'm with you. But we have to abandon a few objectives. We can only do so much."

"Which ones are we abandoning?"

"Forget killing the leader. We can't take the risk that he might not be in his quarters and waste time. So forget about that. And we both know that there are no prisoners, even if Dave thinks there are."

"So, the only thing we do is get those plans for their future attacks?"

"Yeah. That should be enough. Hopefully, with those, this mission won't be all for nothing."

"Then let's go. But first…" Mariposa said, walking over to the body of the demon she had killed. "Help me drag this guy into the room."

Three minutes later, after several attempts to drag the body Into the room, they had finally moved the body enough that they could close the door to the room. There might not be enough time to properly hide it, so they just had to be content with that.

They stepped out into the hallway, and Mariposa started getting flashbacks of her sneaking around the Black priests base, which ended in several unfortunate discoveries. Hopefully it wouldn't be the same here.

"Now," Katrina said. "According to the maps, if we want to go to the war room, where they should keep any plans for attacks, then we should turn left, then right, then a few more turns, and then-"

"Okay okay." Mariposa interjected. "Just tell me as we go along."

"If you want. Then the first direction we go is left."

And so they set off, carefully sneaking around the hallways, keeping their ears open for any sounds of footsteps, voices, or any guards.

But the entire base seemed silent. In fact, since they arrived, the entire base had seemed deserted except for that one demon that Mariposa had killed.

It didn't feel right. Mariposa's feeling of dread that something was wrong got stronger and stronger as they moved through the base. And judging by the look on Katrina's face, she was feeling the same way as well.

"This isn't right." Mariposa whispered. "I haven't seen or heard anybody else since got here. Why wouldn't they have people patrolling the hallways at all times just in case somebody like us came along?'

"Well," Katrina said. "Maye they're so confident that nobody will ever break into this place that they don't bother having anybody patrol the hallways. That or they're all doing something somewhere else." She said this with a bit of hopefulness in her voice, but just like her comment earlier about coming back to the fortress later on, Mariposa could see that Katrina didn't really believe any of that. And while Mariposa wasn't complaining about not having any obstacles to deal with, she would like it if they heard someone else, as a way to cool her nerves.

But finally, after several minutes of walking around and turning corners, (with still no sign of anybody else being in the fortress) they made it to a large wooden door.

"Okay." Katrina said. "The map says that this room is used as the war room. So if we're looking for any plans for their future attacks that they're planning against us, then we should find them in here."

"Wait," Mariposa said cautiously. "How do we know there's no one in there?"

"Simple. Like this." Katrina said, putting her ear against the door. She listened for several seconds then backed off. "Alright, I don't hear anybody in there. I think it's safe." She reached for the handle to the door.

"Wait." Mariposa said. "Maybe we should-"

Too late. Katrina grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door inwards.

They both looked inside. Inside was a large table, low enough to the ground that if someone crawled under it they couldn't be seen easily. Several ornately designed chairs surrounding it. There was also some kind of large map hanging on one of the walls. It appeared to be a map of the Underworld, and it had several things written on it in various places.

"Katrina." Mariposa said. "That was incredibly risky. What if there was someone behind that door? What would we have done?"

"Hey, I'm just doing this as fast as I can while also trying not to be caught. You're the one who suggested that we stay and complete this mission."

Mariposa couldn't argue with this. "Touché. But still. What would we have done?"

"I assumed you would have probably killed them like you did with that guy back at the storage room."

"Never assume. I might not have been quick enough. But enough with the talk, let's get what we came for, shall we?"

They both entered the room and looked around. There were several pieces of some kind of paper on the table, all of them filled with writing, maps, and diagrams for attacks formations and procedures. They quickly looked over each piece, but there was no real useful information.

"This is useless." Mariposa groaned. "I don't see anything that can be of use to us. It's like this place isn't a war room, but just a place to dump old military documents that don't have any use anymore."

"I...guess." Katrina said, unhappy that they hadn't found anything. She grabbed two more pieces of paper and looked them over. "But I think-"

Her voice suddenly died in her throat.

Mariposa looked at her with concern. "What's wrong? What did you find?" She asked, but Katrina gave no answer.

"What's wrong?" She asked again.

"We- we have to go. We have to go back to the castle now." Without any further explanation, she shoved the two pieces of paper in her pocket and moved for the door, when they both heard footsteps from outside it.

Mariposa and Katrina exchanged glances. Katrina suddenly froze in fear, unable to move. Mariposa, seeing what was about to happen, grabbed Katrina and shoved her under the table. She then got out her knife and moved behind the door, ready to attack.

She looked back at Katrina. She was rather hard to see with the low lying table, but that was exactly what Mariposa was counting on. Hopefully, if things went bad, whoever it was wouldn't see Katrina and she would get a chance to escape.

Someone entered the room. It was a rather tall, muscular yellow demon with two small orange horns coming out of its head. It reminded Mariposa of Wraithmelior for a second, if Wraithmelior was smaller and yellow. This had to be the person Katrina described earlier. The leader. Drosid. If Mariposa could just kill him now, then the mission could be a complete success. But she had to do it now.

Without making a sound, she quickly jumped towards Drosid with the dagger aimed directly for their head. A quick, almost instantaneous kill.

But it was not to be.

In a student burst of speed, the demon quickly whipped around, grabbed Mariposa's arm with one hand, and grabbed her throat with the other. He then slammed her against the wall and tightened the hand that had tabbed her, making her drop the dagger.

"Well well well…" He started. His voice was cold and full of a calm hatred, but otherwise emotionless.

"Look at what we have here." He said. "A little assassin sent to kill me, no doubt. Judging by the fact that you're not a demon, I'm guessing Dave sent you, am I right?"

Mariposa didn't know what to do. She attempted to grab the hand that was around her throat with her free hand and hopefully pull it off, but it didn't budge. His grip was as hard as iron. He sighed.

"You can do that all day long, but you're not going to make any progress. Only the strongest demons get positions of power like mine, so I can assure that you're not going to be able to do anything to me. I'm not some weakling."

"But…" He said, with a small amount of contempt coming from the edge of his voice. "I know that Dave is. It's such a disappointment. Such a strong demon like Wraithmelior marrying such a weak person like Dave. He's not even from the Underworld! He is an insult to all demon kind. And then…" He said, now looking directly in Mariposa's eyes. "When your little world was destroyed and the refugees came swarming in like a seething parasite hoping to infest this place, Dave just opened his door! What kind of king would forget about his true subjects for the sake of compassion?!"

Mariposa was starting to black out. Drosid's grip around her throat was getting tighter, and she was finding it slightly hard to breath. But Katrina has a chance. If she left _now, _then she might be able to escape. But she stayed under the table, out of fear or out of not wanting to leave her here, Mariposa wasn't sure. But she had to talk. If she could keep Drosid talking, then she could buy more time for Katrina.

"A- a good king, that's who." She said, struggling to speak.

But this just seemed enrage Drosid even further. He tightened his grip around her throat, drew her back and then slammed her against the wall again.

"You think so? Dave is no king. He is a coward. A pathetic little man who foolishly let you people into the Underworld. And as for you…"

His tone suddenly got much angrier, with the anger seemingly being direct at Mariposa herself. "I will not hear one more word from you. That small sentence you just choked out was a courtesy. You and all the others who arrived here made Dave even softer than he was before. Which in turn made several of the other kingdoms soft. And I can't let that happen. You don't get to speak. You're not worthy enough to speak to me anymore. So before I kill you, know this. I promise you that I will go to Dave's little castle, tear it apart brick by brick and then kill everybody you know and love that's inside. This I promise."

Mariposa kept struggling to get out of Drosid's grip, but she couldn't. She had to do something. _Anything._

"You- you're just-"

But she was cut short when Drosid's grip once again tightened on her throat, but this time, it completely cut off her breathing. Mariposa attempted to speak once again, but she couldn't.

"Shhhh…" He said. "Time to go to sleep. Being killed for my entertainment is all you're good for now anyway."

Mariposa couldn't breathe. She could feel her face turn purple, and her vision was fading. Her arms then fell to her side, and the last thing she saw was-

"GAHHH!" Drosid suddenly cried out. He let go of Mariposa and she fell to the floor, struggling to breath and clutching her throat. She looked up weakly.

Drosid was on his knees, obviously in pain. Stuck in his back was Katrina's dagger, which she had evidently stabbed him with. Katrina herself quickly ran towards Mariposa and helped her up.

"Come on!" She said. Mariposa got to her feet, still finding it hard to breath. She could feel the marks that Drosid had left on her throat. She hoped that he didn't permanently hurt her vocal cords. She wasn't even sure if she could still speak at all.

They both ran out of the room as fast as they could, and down the hallways. Katrina seemed to know where they were going, and in no time they were back at the storage room, and the large hole in the wall was still there.

Katrina and Mariposa ran through it and over to the giant pile of rocks, not bothering to avoid being seen. They had already been caught, there was no point in attempting to be sneaky now.

They heard several shouts coming from the walls of the fortress, but they ignored them. They eventually reached the pile of rocks and quickly climbed over it, and when they got to the other side, Katrina didn't stop.

"Forget the bags!" She yelled. "We have to keep going. Follow me and keep running."

Mariposa did as Katrina said, and kept running. After fifteen minutes of this, they both collapsed onto the ground at the same time, exhausted.

But Katrina got back up. "Come on. We have to go back."

"Katrina." Mariposa said, struggling to speak. Her throat still hurts immensely, and speaking made it worse.

"I, I don't think they're following us. Calm down. Stay here and rest for a bit."

"You don't understand." She said. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out the papers. If what these papers said are right, then [blank] is going to launch and attack only a few hours from now. We have to get back and warn them. And even worse…"

"What is it?" Mariposa said? "What else does it say?"

"It says that Drosid is planning to use some kind of war vehicle against the Lucitors. There's a diagram of it. Look." She handed the paper to Mariposa, who looked at the picture of the vehicle.

Her eyes widened. "That, that is a freaking tank. Like, an actually Earth tank. Where the hell could they possibly get-"

Katrina took back the paper. "No time to think about that. Come on. Our little mission probably just persuaded [blank] to carry out the attack even earlier. Now that he likely knows we have this, he's not gonna waste any time."

Mariposa got up off the ground. "Alright."

They both set off. Running as fast as they could, taking occasional short breaks, but other than that, never stopping. They finally made it back it the castle two hours later. It came into view.

"Finally!" Katrina said, with happiness in her voice. "Now we can-"

"Hold on." Mariposa said. "Do you hear that?"

"What are you-" But then Katrina heard it too. Footsteps. Hundreds of them. Fast ones. As it got closer and closer, it started sounding like the ground itself was cracking under a great weight.

They looked behind them.

They could see a giant cloud of dust and an army following them. It must have been following them the whole time. And among the seemingly countless troops, Mariposa could see her worst fear was confirmed. There was a tank. An actually tank. And it was gigantic. The size of a house.

"How?" Katrina said. "They, they must have been behind us the whole time. That's why we didn't see anybody else back at the fortress. They were all probably outside getting ready for this. How did we not hear them? Did

they somehow disguise their footsteps until now? When-"

Mariposa didn't hear any of this. She couldn't move. A single, barren, frightened thought came to her mind.

'_It's too late.'_

**End Chapter 16**

**A/N: And In the next chapter, the Underworld war will truly begin. And as for that tank, where they got that will be explained. **

**I hope this chapter is good. I changed several things about it, and I hope I made good choices. I also hope the leader of the demons is a good character, because we're definitely going to see more of him.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	17. Chapter 17: Battle for Lucitor Castle

**A/N: Thank you to SonicE1337 for beta-reading this chapter!**

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 17**

**Battle for Lucitor castle**

"An army?! What the hell do you mean by that?" Jenkins said in disbelief.

Jenkins couldn't handle this anymore, not with all that had happened recently. They had found the Underworld, Mariposa was sent on some infiltration mission, Meteora was found to be able to use magic, the voice that plagued Meteora was evidently some kind of bodiless entity and now Archibald had just barged in and told them that Mariposa was back and that there was an army behind her.

"Exactly what I said unfortunately." Archibald said. "Mariposa is back at the castle a lot earlier than she should be, and a very large army of demons are now approaching the castle. Judging by their appearance, they are the same ones who attacked us when we entered the Underworld and who want every living thing that isn't a demon dead."

"Where are they?" Jenkins asked.

"Where is who?" Archibald said, confused.

"Mariposa and Katrina! Are they alright? Did anything happen to them?"

"They're fine, don't worry." Archibald responded. "They came inside the castle a while ago. They were extremely exhausted though, so they were both sent to the doctor. I don't think I saw any injuries, if that helps, but to think they'd run all the way from the enemy fortress to here."

Jenkins got up and started to walk out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Archibald asked.

"I want to see his army for myself. I want to know what we're up against."

"You're joking, right?" Arhicbald asked in complete disbelief. "You're not going to be fighting. You and ask the other refugees are going to stay in the dungeon until it's safe to exit. We can't risk any innocent lives out there."

"Are you going to stop me?" Jenkins turned around and walked straight towards Archibald, looming over him. "If there truly is an army outside that wants nothing more than our extermination, then I'm not going to sit around and wait for them to break into the castle and do exactly that. Will I die in this fight? Fuckin'-A I will, but I'm going to die trying to protect the people in this castle, and my two daughters, not cowering in fear, waiting for the end to arrive."

Archibald paused, then spoke up with a tone of confusion. "Why do you care so much about the people in the castle? I thought you were only here to get information from those books in the library."

Jenkins sighed. "You know, I had a job once. That job was to protect _everybody_ on the _planet_, big emphasis on 'everybody' and 'planet', from magic, monsters and other shit not worth mentioning. The people in this castle, every single person who came here looking for aid, is all that's left of the people that I was supposed to protect, so I will fight for their survival here." Jenkins paused, Staring Archibald dead in the eyes, his crows-feet and wrinkles seeming like the scars of a time gone by.

"Even if it costs me my own life."

Archibald didn't even know what to say to this. Everything Jenkins has said was true, with just the way he said it making him stand in silence.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" Jenkins grunted, "...I'm going to go do my damn job."

He walked off. Archibald simply stood in silence. Meteora then walked out of the library and past Archibald, giving him a shrug as she walked by. She then jogged tirades Jenkins to catch up with him.

"Hey!" She said.

"What is it now?" he grumbled.

"Are you really going to go out and fight?"

"I am. You got a problem with that?"

Meteora looked at him like he was insane. "Have you forgotten? Remember the demons back at the Underworld portal?"

"Yes, I remember them. Little hard to forget if I'm honest."

"Well, those guys were heavily armored and like twice as tall as me! At least! They'll _destroy _you. No offense, but you won't stand a chance against even _one_ of them much less an entire army."

"You can't dissuade me from doing this Meteora. I don't care if it's stupid, I don't care if it's sucidal, This is going down, and it's going down hard."

Meteora swallowed hard. "Then, then I'm going to fight too."

Jenkins stopped walking as if he had run into a brick wall. "Oh no." He said. "No no no. You're not fighting and neither is Mariposa. I am not letting _either _of you get caught up in this."

"I can fight just fine, I'm a lot stronger than you think." She held up one of her arms. "Monster strength? Remember? If you're fighting out there, then I'm going to help and you can't stop me."

Jenkins eyes narrowed. "Sure I can. I can tell you "_you're not going out there, and that's final."_ Plus, you still have a skull fracture, and last I checked it ain't holding up too well. Do you still want to go?"

"I don't want to go at all. But I will fight if you're fighting, besides, I can use magic. Maybe I can summon up that purple ball spell I cast a few hours ago and attack them with it. I still remember the words, and as for that skull fracture? Give me a break. I'm sure I've gone through much worse than that."

They both stared at each other for a few seconds. Jenkins could tell by the look in Meteora's eyes that she wasn't going to back down. He sighed in defeat.

"Alright, fine. But you're not going on the main field of battle. You're going to be on the battlements, maybe you can cast your ball spell and attack the enemy from there."

Meteora smiled. She had won, but this all depended on whether Dave would actually let them go into battle, but she suspected he didn't have much of a choice. He would probably need every person he needed fighting out there.

Jenkins shook his head and kept walking through the castle, looking for the door where they had entered. Meteora followed him and after a minute or so of searching, they found it. Dave and Wraithmelior were already there, with dozens of soldiers seemingly get ready for battle. Jenkins shoved his way through the crowd and approached Dave, who looked surprised to see him.

"What's the situation?" Jenkins asked. "How many soldiers do they have?"

Dave just stared at him as if he hadn't even said anything at all. But then he responded with a tone of disbelief. "Why are you still here? Why aren't you with all the others in the dungeons?" He asked.

"I'm fighting and so is Meteora, not like I really had a choice for that last bit, though. We're not just going to stay here and wait for the enemy to break in."

Dave turned away. "Well, we can use all the help we can get, but it's your funeral, especially considering that-"

"King Dave!" A sudden voice rang out, with everybody looking to find the source. It was a friendly demon sent from the underworld to the castle. "There is a messenger. He apparently has a message from Drosid!"

Dave scowled. "Alright then." He walked towards the battlements, went up a flight of stairs, and peaked over the walls. Jenkins and Metroa followed and did the same. Their eyes widened when they saw what was waiting for them.

It was gigantic, with at least 300 soldiers standing in wait, eager to attack when the order came. They were all as big as the ones that had attacked them at the portal and all of them looked heavily armored. Meteora looked at Jenkins with fear and judging by his expression, he was regretting his decision to join in on the fight just a wee-bit. It wasn't often that Meteora saw him afraid, but when you did, she knew they were fucked.

The soldiers weren't even the worst part, at the back of the army, standing tall for everyone to see, was a tank. An Earth tank. But it wasn't some small, truck sized vehicle, it was gigantic, at least the size of a house. It practically dwarfed the soldiers, with the giant barrel of the weapon was pointing directly at the castle, ready to blow a fat hole through its walls.

Jenkins spoke up, with an obvious hint of fear in his voice. "That's an E.D.F. tank. One made specifically by us, for us. How in hell did they get one? How did they even get it through the Underworld portal?"

"Maybe they took it apart and transported it through piece by piece?" Meteora offered.

"Unlikely. Those tanks are incredibly complex to machine on Earth, it would take weeks to disassemble it, and then to put it back together _by hand_? Don't even get me started."

"Well then what do we do?" Meteora said. "It's gotta be strong as hell with all that armour."

The friendly demon then stared angrily at Meteora.

"Correct." Jenkins said. "I don't think we're gonna be able to even _scratch _that thing. No sword, spear or arrow would be able to penetrate it, there's just no way. We can't beat it, especially if they still have shells in that thing…"

Dave overheard all of this, and he slowly started turning pale, but the worst was yet to come. He looked down over the walls at the messenger, a rather small demon. Seeing that it had an audience, the creature spoke.

"I have a message from my leader Drosid!" It shouted.

"Then give us your message you daft twat!" Dave shouted back.

"Very well." The demon said, slightly offended. "Drosid has recommended that you surrender immediately. If you do this, with no resistance whatsoever, than all demons in the castle will be unharmed. He has given his word."

"And everybody else?" Jenkins suddenly interjected, "What happens to the ones that came to the Underworld for help?"

"They will be slain, as quickly and painlessly as possible. That is the message. What is your response?"

Dave frowned. "My response," He shouted back in anger. "Is that you can tell Drosid to go to hell!"

"Ah, irony. How creative. Because he's a demon, and demons come from hell, so on so forth, it's all very funny."

The small demon then smiled, "But so be it. I will tell him that you will have war." With that, it walked off back towards the army.

"Hey Dave," Jenkins said. "Thanks for...not surrendering and abandoning everybody in the castle."

Dave sighed. "Don't mention it. I hope I don't regret it later, but Is what you said about that "tank" true? Is it truly impenetrable?"

"It's not impossible to penetrate, but I seriously doubt we have the firepower to destroy something of that size."

"Hm. We'll see about that." Dave said. "We have a great weapon and soldier of our own. Wraithmelior is worth ten soldiers, she'll just pick it up and throw it at them until there's nothing left. My Queen!"

Wraithmelior looked over at him.

"You see that disgusting piece of metal? I need you to go and destroy it dear! Destroy it with all of your strength!"

Wraithmelior smiled and walked over to the wall and simply jumped over it.

Dave grinned. "This will be over quick."

Jenkins shook his head. "Get her out of there Dave, you don't know what that thing can do-"

"Nonsense!" He said. "I can assure you that my wife will end this quickly. Last time there was a fight, she-"

But he was interrupted by Wraithmelior's cry of war. She started stomping as fast as he couldn't owards the vehicle, with all the soldiers moving out of the way as fast as they could.

She leapt through the air towards it, but just as she was about to come crashing down on it, the barrel of the tank pointed in her direction. With an Earth shattering BOOM, it shot a projectile too fast to see straight towards her, and it hit its mark, exploding on impact and sending her several hundred feet through the air in the opposite direction. She landed a thousand feet away, crashing into the ground. She attempted to get up, but failed, and she groaned and lay still. Jenkins was shocked she wasn't dead. But she did appear to be heavily injured. She had burns all over he. Most of which looked like they would leave permanent scars. And she wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

Everything was silent. Everybody was contemplating what had just happened. One of the strongest demons in the entire Underworld had just been taken out in a single hit. With almost no effort it seemed.

"Is… is she dead?" Jenkins asked.

"No." Dave said, with his voice coming out as a terrified squeak. "M-merely unconscious. She's gone through w-worse.

Then another person stepped forward from the army. Dave recognized him instantly. It was Drosid, the bane of his existence. He stopped, cleared his throat, and yelled a single word.

"ATTACK!"

In an instant, the entire army moved forward towards the castle, including the tank. The entire army was descending on them. There was no escape.

Dave turned around. "Get support to the gate!" He shouted. "Don't let them through! All soldiers, get up to the battlements and jump down! Fight for the kingdom! Fight against the enemy!"

Instantly, dozens of Dave's soldiers rushed forward towards the battlements and gate. Half ran up the stairs to the walls and jumped off to the battlefield below, taking no damage from the fall whatsoever. The other half rushed to the gate and started barricading it with whatever whatever could grab.

"This is pointless." Jenkins said to Dave. "If they want to, I'm sure that a single shot from that tank could easily punch through the gate. They would storm the place and this fight would be over in an instance."

"They won't do that." Dave said with confidence. "They hit my wife with that weapon in order to induce fear in us. To make us think that we had no chance. But I know Drosid. He _enjoys _a good fight. He wants this fight to be long and bloody. He's not going to make so that it's over in an instance. He only attacked Wraithmelior because she was too powerful and he couldn't risk her attacking his army."

But then they all watched as the barrel of the tank started seiliving to the right, dirty towards the castle.

"Are you sure about that?!" Jenkins asked hysterically.

The barrel then stopped and moved upwards, pointing at one of the many towers on the castle. Then with another loud BOOM, it fired and struck the tower, producing a massive explosion that obliterated it and showered giant chunks of rock on the people below.

Jenkins immediately shoved Meteora to the ground and stood over her to protect her against any falling rocks, but none came down on their position. But the same could not be said for the others. Screams could be heard as several demon soldiers standing near the gate were literally flattened but the falling debris, and at the end of it, the tower and everything and everybody in it were no more.

Jenkins glared at Dave with anger, who simply glanced back with an expression that was a mix of fear, worry, and disbelief.

"So much for "unbreakable stone," huh Dave?! What the hell do we do now?!" Jenkins yelled at him.

Dave quickly replied back, his voice quivering with fear. "What can we do? We simply hope that my army can do their best and delay the enemy."

Everybody peered back over the battlements cautiously to observe the battle below.

It had almost begun, Dave's army and Drosid's were running at each other as fast as they could. Military tactics had no place here. It was a simple charge.

Finally, they clashes together. The impact of the soldiers hitting each other killed several in each side _alone, _resulting in a small pile of bodies being made between the Dave's army and Drosid's.

But then it truly began. The entire Underworld seemed to quake as the sounds of battle started, with a hundred swords and shields clanging against each other in a futile fight for a victory that would never happen.

This went on for a long while. But after several minutes, Drosid's army appears to be gaining the upper hand, they had partially encircled Dave's army, and now it was almost as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

Drosid made sure not to exclude himself from any of the fun either, killing soldiers left and right. He didn't even use a weapon, he was so strong he was just killing them using his bear hands. Everybody observing the battle watched in horror as he picked up someone and literally ripped them in half, their organs spilling out of their body and onto the ground below. He then threw the body away and looked up at the castle.

He looked straight at Dave, with a malicious smile on his face that showed that he was enjoying every second of this slaughter. Dave trembled where he stood, and even Jenkins seemed to be at extreme unease from this.

Drosid then started walking straight towards the gate, slowly and meticulously, he ignored everything else. Except for an unfortunate Lucitor soldier who charged at him with his blade in the air.

Without even looking at the man, Dave drew his hand back and literally punched straight through his chest, then finished him off by ripping the demons heart out. The soldier fell to the ground and Drosid then crushed the organ in his hand, and then continued walking forward as if this hadn't inconvenienced him in any way.

Dave immediately sank to the floor. "He's coming. He's coming for me." He mumbled, obviously terrified. "He's going to break in and torture us all to death."

Jenkins ignored Dave's mumbling and instead looked back down at the battlefield. The Lucitor army was almost entirely gone, with almost all the soldiers either dead, too injured to fight, or soon to be dead.

And then another disaster happened. The tank they had acquired moved forward and pointed its barrel downwards towards the wall. Before anybody could respond, it fired off another deafening shot that struck a portion of the wall surrounding the castle, creating a giant hole that led into the entrance area. Everyone started in horror as Drosid and his army finished slaughtering the Lucitor army and started moving towards the hole. In no more than a few minutes, they would arrive and kill everybody.

Meteora looked down at the large hole in the wall. This was it. There was no escape. They were going to die here, outnumbered and-

"Hey!" Jenkins yelled at her. "Can you do that ball spell you did earlier? You know, the one that was an attack spell? We could really use it!"

Meteora started up at him. She couldn't believe she had forgotten all about that. But he was right. Now was the time to use it. But she wasn't sure if she could.

"I, I'm not sure if I can even cast it." She responded.

"Meteora, we're completely out of options. That spell might be the only way any of us can survive. Say the words and cast it! And if it doesn't work, then you can join me in dying!"

"...Okay. Okay. I'll do it."

Meteora took a step back towards the wall. She looked at the approaching army and tried to block out all the sounds of their approach. It wasn't really working, but it would have to do. She had to concentrate. She raised her hand in the air.

Jenkins took a step away for her in caution, while Dave (who hadn't even heard any part of their conversation) looked up at her in confusion.

Meteora quietly whispered the word form the book, the same words that had worked last time, and prayed in her mind that it would work. Last time was almost accidental, but maybe this time would-

"Great! You got it! Now throw the damn thing at them!"

Meteora was sucked out of her thoughts and looked at her hand. It was the same as last time. A small, purple, glowing ball of magic that floated slightly above her hand. Dave looked up at her in shock at what had just transpired.

"How exactly do I throw it? I'm not directly holding it."

"Just thrust your arm at them or something!" Jenkins responded.

Meteora took the advice and lowered her arm. She then drew it back and thrust it directly towards the middle of Drosid's army.

It suddenly flew away from her and went straight at the army, and in an instant, it struck a bewildered soldier who was unfortunate enough to be standing in its way.

A large purple light quickly enveloped the demon, and several others right next to him. A second later, a massive explosion covered the area, instantly killing several soldiers who were standing nearby.

Everything went silent. Drosid's army stopped and turned towards where the explosion had occurred, and even Drosid himself looked shocked at what had happened. Dave started at Meteora with amazement, as did everybody else in the castle.

Drosid's army then all realized where it had come from and turned towards Meteora, who was now the center of attention. Meteora herself was surprised at the amount of power that the spell had unleashed. If she had somehow made it explode back in the library, then it probably would have made half the castle collapse.

Nobody moved.

Then Drosid pointed directly at Meteora and barked out an order, his voice quivering with a bottomless rage.

"SHE HAS MAGIC! KILL HER!"

The army responded by rushing forward again towards the hole, and Drosid's tank also moved forward, but not towards the hole, instead it moved towards Meteora.

"Jenkins, that tank is coming for us!" She yelled.

"I know." He said. "But I have an idea. If you can cast that spell again and make it go directly into the barrel of that tank, then it should blow up all the shells inside. The shells inside that tank are bigger and more explosive than any other tank shell, and if all of them go off at once, then the result will probably blow most of what's left of Drosid's army straight to Hell."

"I have to cast that spell again?" She said in surprise. "I'm not sure I can. I feel completely exhausted. I think that spell drained my stamina or whatever. I feel like I can hardly stand right now."

"We don't have a choice! You have to do it. You did it before, and you can do it again."

"I... Alright." She said. "Alright." She raised her hand in the air again, whispered the words and concentrated. Just like last time, a small ball of magic appeared, create out of nothing.

But Meteora felt like she had just ran a marathon. She wasn't even sure if she had the strength necessary to thrust her arm forward and throw it at all, much less throw it so that It went directly into the tanks barrel.

But she had to try.

She grabbed the wall with her other hand and pushed herself forward. She slowly aimed her other arm directly at the approaching vehicle, struggling immensely to do so.

The tanks barrel then swiveled towards them, until it was pointing directly at her.

"Do it now, Meteora! You've got a perfect shot it's pointing directly at us!" Jenkins yelled.

With great difficulty, she drew her arm back. Careful to make sure it was lined up with the barrel, she then thrust her arm forward towards the barrel.

The ball of magic flew straight towards the tanks barrel and disappeared into it.

Nothing happened at first.

But then…

Several loud sounds could suddenly be heard coming from the inside, as if there was a great force struggling to get out. A giant burst of flame came shooting out of the barrel, and a second later, the entire thing was enveloped in a ball of fire.

The soldiers of Drosid's army all turned to look, but by the time they realize what had happened, it was too late.

The giant ball of fire which had been supplemented by the numerous shells in the tank grew bigger and completely consumed the soldiers, melting their armor and literally cooking them alive. Although most demons were heavily immune to fire, no living creature could have survived the heat produced by the explosion. Hundreds were burned to death as the ball of fire grew until it had reached the edge of the castle wall.

The other two dozen soldiers who hadn't been killed by the fire were met with a nasty surprise. Thousands of pieces of flaming metal shrapnel from the exploding tank suddenly flew in their direction, turning half of them into literal shreds. The dozen who remained dropped to the ground in order to avoid it.

Drosid himself was one of those dozen, and the second it was safe, he jumped back up. Seeing that he likely couldn't win with the small attack force that was left, he ordered the remaining soldiers to get up.

"RETREAT!" He yelled. "FULL RETREAT!"

The remaining soldiers that had survived also jumped up and ran away from the castle as fast as they could, knowing that they were now outmatched. Drosid followed them, but before he left he glared one last time at the battlements. But instead of Dave, he glared straight at Meteora. She could see the utter contempt and desire for revenge in his eyes, all of which was directed at her. She could feel the hatred coming from him towards her.

He then turned away and ran off with the rest of his soldiers.

Meteora could believe it. She had single handedly caused them to retreat. It was amazing, it was, it was…

She started to black out. She fell backwards, and the last thing she saw before blaming out was Jenkins teaching out to catch her.

The battle for Lucitor castle was over.

**7 hours later...**

"Did you learn where they got that tank?"

"The prisoner that we found still alive said that they found it, disassembled it with magic, took it to the Underworld piece by piece and then reassembled it."

"With magic? But how did they-"

"This happened before the destruction of magic and the merge. They stole it."

"Figures."

Jenkins and Dave were talking about everything that had just occurred, from the battle, to troop counts, and to the war that was to come.

All of it was messy. The battle did not go unnoticed by the other Underworld kingdoms, and in the last several hours Dave had received several messages, with their contents ranging from vows to fight with Dave against Drosid, and several others that were all along the lines of "serves you right."

The troop count was also extremely messy, with every single soldier that had gone out fight Drosid's army dead. Several others that were inside the castle walls at the time were also dead or injured, due to the collateral damage from Drosid's tank destroying one of the towers and part of the wall.

As for Wraithmelior, she was in stable condition, although heavily injured. She wouldn't be able to fight for weeks.

Meteora had woken up a while ago, and she and Mariposa were currently near the castle gates.

"Are you really going?" Dave asked.

"I'm afraid so." Jenkins answered. "Although the people in this castle are important to me, even if I don't know any of them, those two are more important. I'd never forgive myself if either of them died in this war. I have to leave because I know they will want to fight in it, and I can't risk it. Even if Meteora still has a skull fracture, and me and Mariposa are still injured in one way or another, we're going to be a lot more injured if we don't leave."

Dave nodded solemnly. "I understand. I remember the last time I saw my son Tom. He was always so important to me, much more than he realized. But it is a shame you're going. You saw what that daughter of yours did right? She basically single handedly caused Drosid's entire army to retreat."

"That's why I'm worried." Jenkins said. "Drosid now knows how much of a threat Meteora is. If she goes into battle, then he will attempt to kill her first. She just made an enemy. And I want to get her as far away from that enemy as possible."

"Well, if you are leaving, I've prepared three bags for you. They have enough supplies to last you a week or two. Is that enough?"

"It's more than enough. Thank you."

"We owe you for saving us. Or at least we owe your daughter."

"Then I'm going now. We saw all we needed. We got all we needed from that library of yours. It's time to leave."

And so both of them walked through the castle towards the gate. When they got there, Meteora, Mariposa, Katrina, and Archibald were waiting. Archibald was carrying their bags, and Mariposa and Katrina were talking.

"So," Mariposa said. "I guess we kind of have to cut this friendship of ours short."

Katrina smiled. "It's okay. I know you have to leave. Now that your sister is now probably on the top spot of Drosid's kill list, it's better if you leave. For your own safety."

"Yeah. But it was fun while it lasted. I'm sure I'll come back eventually. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"..."

Katrina suddenly stepped forward and hugged Mariposa, surprising her.

"Thanks for being my friend." She said. "Even if it was for less than a day."

Mariposa hugged her back. "Yeah. Thanks for being mine."

They let go of each other. Katrina nodded at Mariposa and then walked back into the castle.

As Archibald saw Jenkins and Dave approach, he walked over to them.

"Here are your supplies." He said, handing Jenkins one of the bags. "Everything that you need to survive is there."

He then walked over to Meteora and Mariposa and gave them each a bag as well. Meteora sighed. '_What a disaster.' _She thought. '_A wars about to break out, I'm now public enemy number one in the Underworld, and once again we're leaving to go back into the wasteland. I just hope that that Drosid guy or whatever his name was won't follow us that far.'_

They all got ready to leave. Jenkins turned towards Archibald. "Thanks for all the help you gave us. I hope your wing heals soon."

"Thank you." Archibald said. "Although it's possible we'll all be dead before that happens."

Jenkins frowned. Everyone in the castle probably now knew that they were at war, and that the majority of the Underworld kingdom was against them. Archibald's attitude was probably everyone's attitude.

The gate to the castle then suddenly opened, although that wasn't really necessary considering the giant hole in the wall.

"So," Jenkins tuned towards Dave. "Thanks for taking care of us here and using you books. I wouldn't be leaving if I knew that I couldn't stay."

Dave nodded. But he said no more. He turned around and walked back into the castle. The only people left were now Archibald, and the three.

"Are you sure you don't need an escort?" Archibald asked.

"I know the way to the portal." Jenkins answered. "I memorized it when we first came through. Thanks for the offer though." He paused. "Goodbye."

With that, he walked out of the gate, and Meteora and Mariposa took one last look at the castle and followed him.

"Yeah." Archibald said. "Goodbye."

They all walked in silence. Nobody has anything to say. When they arrived at the portal, they entered. They walked through the former forest of certain death without saying a word. They reached the town limits. They couldn't stay in Echo creek. They all knew that Drosid probably wouldn't bat an eyelid at sending someone outside by portal to kill them.

They left the town. Meteora and Mariposa looked back one last time, but Jenkins didn't. He didn't care. As far as he was concerned, this little chapter in his life was over. And there was no need to remember it. But he knew that wasn't true. No matter how hard he tried to believe it.

Once again, they went back into a wasteland, with nothing surrounding them. 8 hours of walking later, the sky had darkened and Jenkins said the first words any of them had said in almost half a day.

"We'll stay here for the night. I'll try and gather anything I can find for a fire, and you two eat something. But make sure to not eat too much. Those supplies won't last us forever."

Fifteen minutes later, Jenkins had made a fire out of random flammable objects he had found lying around, and a few sticks. Meteora and Mariposa had started to eat some kind of fruit that they got from their bags, but they only picked at it. Nobody had an appetite. They all sat around the fire, staring into it.

Suddenly Jenkins put his face in his hands, and it sounded like he started laughing. But Meteora and Mariposa realized it was quite the opposite.

"Are-Are you crying?" Mariposa asked in disbelief.

"Yes." He answered, with several tears on his face.

"But why? Are you okay?"

"No. NO! I'm not okay." He said. "I can't do this anymore."

"What do you mean?" Meteora asked him.

Jenkins wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked at them.

"Meteora, remember when I told Archibald about how I would fight for the Lucitors, because everybody is that castle was all that was left of the world?"

Meteora nodded. "I understand. But the entire Underworld is probably looking for me now, either to kill me or use me as a weapon, so I know we had to leave."

"I made a choice back there. I did it in order to protect you two. I knew that we wouldn't survive in that war. So I knew what I had to do. So we fled. And abandoned everybody at the castle. But either way, it was the same deal in the end. Either the people in that castle or you two, I had to abandon somebody no matter what choice I made. But now I regret it. All those people will die. They can't leave the Underworld. There's nothing for them up here. That war will destroy everything. And we just left."

Meteora and Mariposa sat in silence.

"Then we're going back." Meteora said.

"What?"

"You heard me. We're going back. And we're fighting in that war. And we're going to protect the people in that castle. Even if it kills us. You're right. We can't abandon them. They're all that's left."

Jenkins stared at her. "I left to protect you. But will you really willingly go back down there and fight?"

"Until the very end."

Jenkins laughed. "Alright then. If you want to go, I know I probably can't stop you. But then we'll fight together."

Jenkins turned towards Mariposa. "Are you in?" He asked her.

She smiled. "Yeah. Let's go and die in a war. At least we'll probably die together."

Jenkins smiled at them, and then fell on his back. "Go to sleep. We'll go back to the Underworld tomorrow." With that, he instantly feel asleep again.

Meteora and Mariposa looked at each. They didn't say a word, but they both knew what they were thinking. They laid on their backs and fell asleep as well.

**Somewhere else…**

"Get up."

Meteora eyes opened in a flash. She got up and looked around. It was the same area she was in a second ago, but the fire was out and Jenkins and Mariposa were missing.

She frowned. "Alright, what is it this time?"

The same familiar voice responded, with the slightest hint of anticipation in its voice.

"I think it's time I told you why I chose you to talk to."

**End of Arc 1**

**A/N: And that's the end of Arc 1. With 6 more to go. The next arc will deal primarily with Meteora and the voice in her dreams, and the Underworld won't come much into play again until that arc is done.**

**The next arc will deal with magic, the butterfly-monster form that we got a glimpse at in chapter 12, and the Black priests and Janna will return. **

**But as always, please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	18. Chapter 18: A story of a voice

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, there were some technical problems.**

**Thank you to sonicE1337 for beta-reading this chapter!**

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 18**

**A story of a Voice**

"What are you talking about?" Meteora asked. "Why you "chose" me? I don't really understand what you're saying." For the hundredth time, Meteora wondered what the voice in her head was going on about. It said it had "chose" her. Was she seriously the only one it talked to? Was there nobody else?

"Well." The Voice replied. "There's not really that much to understand. I decided that I should tell you why you were the person I chose to talk to. I'm not sure what's confusing about it. It's quite simple." It said in a matter-of-factly voice.

"Well…" Meteora responded. "I kind of assumed that you talked to other people. That I wasn't the only one. You had said that you weren't watching me all the time. You said you had things to do." Meteora said, remembering the Voice's previous words.

"True. But while I could talk to other people, you're the only one that I think is worth talking to."

"But why me?" Meteora asked in confusion. "What's so special about me?"

"I'll tell you. But do you want the whole story, or do you want me to cut directly to the point?"

"I want the whole story." Meteora replied. "I want to know everything about you. If you're going to talk to me in my dreams, then I want to know who you are."

"Oh, I might do a lot more than just talk to you in your dreams …" The Voice muttered.

"Sorry, what?" Meteora asked, slightly concerned at the meaning behind those words.

"I'll explain later. But for now, if you want the whole story, then I'll tell you mine. First off, I'm a-"

"Bodiless spirit like entity?" Meteora interjected.

"...How did you know?" The Voice asked with a noticeable tone of surprise.

"I told Jenkins what you had said, and he told me you were likely some kind of bodiless entity." Meteora responded.

Although Meteora couldn't see the entity, it sounded like it had just sighed. "Of course he did. That's what he does, isn't it? He tells you things. He told who your parents were. He told you how to survive, he told you how the world ended, he told you all the stories. But now, it's my turn to tell you a story. Feel free to ask any questions if you want, I suspect you'll have quite a few. So sit down, this might take a while."

"Okay." Meteora immediately took a seat on the ground, eager to finally hear the backstory of the thing that she knew almost nothing about.

"Now," It started. "I was...created, so to speak, about roughly 300 hundred years. I was born a level three being, and-"

No more than a few seconds into the Voice's story, Meteora interrupted it with a question. "Level three being? What's that?" She asked.

The Voice came to a slow realization. "Oh, right. You don't know anything about that. You see Meteora, there are five levels of beings. But you could more accurately describe as levels of power, because they're just that. They describe how powerful an entity is. The first level is mortal beings. Regular people with no magic. They have no special natural abilities other than being able to breathe, walk, eat, ect ect. Jenkins, Mariposa, Archibald, Dave, all of those people are level one. They are the definition of mortal.

Meteora took this in for a moment. "Am I a-"

"No." The Voice said. "You are not a level one. You are a level two. Magical beings. Beings that can use magic in small ways. You switched between level one to level two back at Relicor's study in the Lucitor castle, when you cast that energy ball. And by the way, nice job using magic to take out Drosid's army. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed."

"Thanks." Meteora said. "You know, considering how easy it was for me to cast that spell back there, am I able to just use that whenever I want?"

"Possibly. You'll have to test that out later when you wake up. But for now, I'm going to keep going. Now, next is level three. This is where we start getting serious. These could be described as Demi-gods. Beings that could, with their full power, take out an entire dimension. Granted, it would be difficult, but still possible nonetheless. And before you ask, no. No, I cannot destroy a dimension. Most of my powers, like with all level three beings, vanished when the magic dimension was destroyed. I can still use some of my power, because like I said, some magic is still around."

"What could you do before magic was destroyed?" Meteora asked. This intrigued her. As far as she knew, this Voice's powers at the current moment included dream communication and being almost omniscient. To certain events at least. She wondered what this thing could have been capable of when it still had it's "dimension destroying" power."

"I was a...watcher of things." It responded. "I watched things, I sometimes altered events so they were in my favor. But mostly, I traveled from dimension to dimension, planet to planet, looking for something worth my time. I was rather arrogant back then. I could basically see anything I wanted to, and talk to whoever I wanted to. I could also take a physical form, and that's where the whole "dimension destroying" fell into place. Although I never personally destroyed one. If a dimension wasn't worth my time, then I simply left and never looked back. Unlike my fellow level threes. Most of them used their powers to their fullest. Most of them were annoying. The keepers of the elements, physical manifestations of concepts, and even the Magical high commission. All of these beings were level threes. Jenkins did tell you about them, right? The Magical high commission?"

"Yeah." Meteora responded. "Although he only used that name the first time. Whenever he mentions them now, he calls them the "douchebag high commission." I don't think he liked them."

The Voice responded to this in a obviously amused tone. "Not many people did. They were always meddling in the affairs of others. Like the level four beings. Now, these guys were God's. Level four beings could erase universes at their whim, their true cosmic forms impossible for minds like yours or mine to fathom. They were Gods, and all beings under their level were forced to treat them as such. Luckily, like myself, they lost most of their power when magic was destroyed. There aren't that many left."

"Well, what about the fifth level?" Meteora asked. "What's level five? How can you get higher than a god?"

The Voice responded, it's tone now deadpan. "There are only two level five beings. The first is the original being. The creators of all things. A true God. He was completely above everyone and everything. Except for the other level five being. For every source of light, there must be darkness. And this darkness took the form of a being known only as Lythol. You see, Lythol is a great evil. He is nothing but chaos, discord, hatred, anger, everything negative about the universe. And he constantly opposed the original being. And he eventually won."

"What?!" Meteora said. "I thought you said that this original being was above everything."

"Was." The voice articulated. "He was. But as the universe grew, and the number of sentient beings rose, so did the anger and hatred. These things fueled Lythol. Without it, he couldn't exist. But soon, there was so much anger and hatred throughout the Omniverse that Lythol's strength grew to even beyond the Creator of all. If Lythol wished, he could erase everything on a whim. And the first thing he did was imprison the creator in a place that nobody else could reach. The creator of all is still there, probably."

"If he could erase everything, then why didn't he?" Meteora asked.

"Because he saw no point. And it would be suicide. He liked his newfound power, and to destroy everything was to also destroy all the emotions that fueled that power. Even though the creator was gone, he still needed them to exist. So, he did what he did best: Ruin things for everyone. And I do really mean everyone. But instead of destroying dimensions to cause misery, he did small things that eventually led up to big ones. He killed important leaders, then watched as the dimension tore itself apart because everybody was fighting on who should rule next. And things such as that. It brought him great amusement. As far as I know, he's probably still out there somewhere, causing misery to everyone."

"Do you think he would come here?" Meteora asked.

"No." The Voice responded. "He would have no reason. This dimension is currently dead. There's really no more misery he can bring to this place that isn't already here. So he doesn't care."

"Well, that's a relief."

"Yes. And now that I've told you all about the five levels of beings, I'm going to go back to my story. Now, as I was saying, I was created as a level three being. I did things. I watched. I interfered. But I quickly grew bored of it. I traveled from dimension to dimension, hoping to find someone or something to entertain me. And eventually, I came to Earth. Due to the fact that it didn't have magic. I didn't stay long. I didn't think it was worth my trouble. I was just about to leave, when…" the Voice stopped talking, as if it had suddenly started struggling to remember what had happened."

"What's wrong?" Meteora asked.

"The magic was destroyed just as I was leaving."

"Oh…" Meteora said, coming to a realization. "So you must have been trapped here."

"I was, unfortunately. But thankfully for my sanity, Mewni merged with Earth not long after, so there was a chance that I could find something that interested me in this new world. I wanted someone to talk to. Someone that would understand me. Someone that I believed was strong enough to talk to. I decided that if my goal in life was to watch and interfere, then I was going to do that. I planned to reveal my existence to the world through someone I saw worthy enough of it. So I looked at the options. At every single person and sentient race in this new world. I found there were three races that might be worth trying to communicate with. The three main ones. Every other race was in numbers that were too small for my likings."

"Three races?" Meteora said. "Do you mean the humans, Mewmans and monsters?"

"Yes. The humans, the Mewmans, and the monsters. I went for the one with the biggest population and the most widely spread. The humans. They showed...promise. I was honestly fascinated at first. For thousands of years, they didn't need magic to survive. They did it completely without any magic. And their resolve to not give up...something that even I admired. A level three high like me, admiring a race of level ones. Something possibly unheard of before. When something hit them, they created an entirely new object to hit it back twice as hard. In less than a hundred years, they went from creating simple cars, to sending things to other planets. Only a few other dimensions have accomplished that. And they used magic. So, I felt that humans were at first the obvious choice."

"If they were the obvious choice, then why didn't you pick one of them to talk to?"

"One reason. To put it bluntly, they were...weak."

"But I thought you said something about "hitting twice as hard." How is that weak?"

"I'm not talking about that sort of strength. I'm talking about physical. I wanted someone who was both strong in the body and the mind. I admit it: I was picky back then. And I might still be now. And when it came to humans, the strong ones usually weren't the smart ones. I needed a strong person because it's the strong ones that others look up to. And so, I had discarded them as an option. So that led me to the second species."

"The Mewmans." Meteora said.

"Yes. And they had what humans lack. While the humans evolved their brains, the Mewmans evolution mainly focused on their bodies. They were strong. Tough. And they were sometimes freakishly strong. For instance, the Johansen clan of Mewmans were insanely strong. I think one of them once ran 10 miles in five minutes."

Meteora immediately got an expression of deep disbelief. "How the hell did they-"

"I have no idea. But like I said, strong. But anyways, they had what humans didn't. I looked at all of them. But I didn't like what I saw in the end. They had what the humans didn't, but they also lacked what the humans had. The intelligence. They were, quite frankly, stupid. They didn't have much of an education, the average adult didn't know how to read or write, and even the royalty were slightly below the average. They were dumb." The voice said these things as if it was reading facts from a history book.

"How nice." Meteora said. "So since i'm half-Mewman, I'm half stupid."

"No, you're not stupid. The Mewmans were raised stupid. It's the plain truth, so I abandoned them. Which left me with the final species, the monsters. They seemed to be what I was looking for. They had the strength. They were stronger than the average Mewman. And they were smarter. Queen Eclipsa made sure that they had a proper education, unlike the Mewmans. So they were smart. And they were strong. It seemed I had found what I was looking for. And I had the perfect person. Your father, Globgor."

"My...father?" Meteora said in surprise. "You were going to talk to him?"

"Yes. He was strong. He was smart. He was a leader, which was an added bonus. I was going to communicate with him, to finally reveal myself to the world, to finally talk to somebody that I thought was worth talking to, but something stopped me."

"What was it?"

"I saw...the hatred. The bigotry. Towards monsters. By the Mewmans. And even some of the humans. I was disturbed by it. And the hatred and rage towards the monsters remained me of Lythol. A thought came to my mind. If I talked with Globgor, and he started talking about me, about how he was chosen by me to talk to him, by a former level three being, then jealousy and hatred would swarm around monsters. The Mewmans and humans wouldn't like that a monster was chosen. And if the hatred and rage multiplied, what if Lythol noticed it, and appeared on Earthni? Due to the fact that this was before the apocalypse, it was still thriving. He could appear and do whatever he wanted to this world, and I couldn't have that. I couldn't condemn it. So it didn't use the monsters. But then…I saw you."

Meteora shifted where she sat.

"You were different. A mixture of monster and Mewman. You had the monster and Mewman strength, and Eclipsa was going to have it so that you had a human education. It would have combined the best of all three worlds. And with you being a child of two different species, you could reunite those species. So I chose you. I decided that when you were old enough, I would talk to you and help you reunite everybody. It was the perfect plan. But a few months later, there was a bit of a flaw."

"Seth."

The Voice's tone suddenly dropped very low. "Yes. Seth. He destroyed it all. Everything that I had one day hoped to reunite, gone in an instant. But I didn't lose hope. I still ha fly plan. So I kept my eyes on you. Luckily, Jenkins was a good enough teacher that you know enough that I considered you ready. And I can teach you more. About magic. About how to save what's left of this world. The bigotry and hatred is still out there, in the world. But you can end that.

And so you finally see Meteora, why I chose you. The humans were weak, the Mewmans were stupid, and the monsters were hated. But you can change everything."

"You know," Meteora said. "I might not be weak, and I might not be stupid, but I'm far from not being hated. I've made several enemies over the years. Including a very recent one."

"Drosid? Yes. Yes, he hates you. But we can take care of him. You can take care of him. That little magic ball you cats back at the castle is just the beginning. I can teach how to use your full potential, even how to use your butterfly form."

"My butterfly form? That sixed armed winged thing that Jenkins told me about once? I don't think that I'll be able to do that. That's more than just casting spells. That's something different all together."

"No. It's possible. You just have to learn. It's all about learning. And I can teach you. But I need you to do something."

"What is it?"

"You can't go back to the Underworld when you wake up. I know that you all want to fight in that war, but you simply can't. You will die. Very soon. And although that ball spell of yours was impressive, if you get in a real battle, you'll eventually be swarmed by an army and killed."

"You know," Meteora said. "We don't really plan on surviving that war. We kind of all know subconsciously that we're going to die in it. We know what we're up against. But we're doing it anyways, for what remains of the people down there. And isn't that why you chose me anyways? To unite people? And the people down there are what's left. So we are going down there."

"No. You can't. Not yet at least. You need to let your magical abilities grow. To improve your spells. To gain your butterfly form. When that happens, then maybe you can go to the Underworld and fight. Then you will be strong enough."

"So, what should I do when I wake up? If we're not leaving to go to the Underworld immediately."

"Well, I have some things planned. I'm going to need your permission for something. It will help you. It will make it easier for me to help you. But I need you to tell me that I'm allowed to do it. This is still your mind and your body. Not mine."

"I...don't like the sound of that." Meteora said. "What are you going to do?"

"Right now, I can only talk to you in your dreams. I, honestly, find this to be annoying. It might be interesting for you, but like I said, I'm picky, and I want something else. Something that will make it easier for us to talk to each other."

Meteora braced herself. She felt that whatever it was, it probably would probably be an invasion of privacy, based on what the voice was saying. "Alright." She said. "Lay it on me. What do you want?"

"I want to be able to talk to you while you're awake. Like a voice in your head. You'll hear me like you're hearing me right now, but I can talk to you while you're awake as well. Whenever I need to. And I will be able to see and hear everything you see and hear. And I can help you. Help you with magic, with any situations you get into, to help you...reunite this world, like I originally wanted to do."

"So...you'll be a voice in my head?"

"Yes."

Meteora thought about this for a moment. It was a hard choice. On one hand, it would probably get annoying to have this thing constantly talk to her. But on the other hand, it could be useful. This thing knew about magic, things about her that she didn't even know, and it could also help her memories of her past encounters with it, which she still couldn't remember.

She made her choice. She could only pray that it was right.

"Fine." She said. "Alright. I'll allow it. But I have some rules."

"And they are?"

"I don't want you to be constantly watching me. I want some privacy at least. So when I tell you that I want you to stop seeing what I see, you're going to have to do it."

"Naturally. If you think I'm going to watch you twenty four seven, then you're mistaken. I have other things to do. You're just the main thing I'm focusing on. Now what are your other rules?"

"If I ask you a question, I want you to answer it. As truthfully as you can."

"Answering your questions is one of the main things I'll be doing." It responded. "You won't have to worry about unanswered questions."

"Good." She said. "That's all. If you swear to follow these rules, then I'll...let you in or whatever."

"Excellent. Say the words."

"Which...words?" She asked.

"Say "I allow you to access my mind to its full extent." I did say I needed your permission for this. It's your mind, so it plays by your rules."

"Um...Okay. I...allow you to access my mind to its full extent?" She said cautiously.

"Thank you."

Instantly, the entire area was flooded with light, just like the last time. Meteora covered her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was awake. It was still dark, although Jenkins and Mariposa were now there. Her head throbbed uncontrollably, and it hurt so much she nearly threw up.

She looked around once the headache had subsided to a level that it was bearable. "Um, are you there?" She asked, in agony.

"Yes." A sudden voice said.

"Gah!" Meteora immediately jumped back, not sure what she was trying to get away from.

"Ah, good. You can hear me." There was no doubt. It was the same voice that spoke to her in her dreams. Apparently giving it that permission had slowed it to do exactly what it said would happen.

"I, I could feel that." She said. "Like, In my head. It wasn't like hearing it. I was...feeling it."

"Indeed." The voice said. "I'm speaking directly from your mind. I can see what you see, hear what you hear, and feel what you feel. It's...different than what I'm used to. To actually experience it like this. I don't really have a body of my own. Just a soul. But now, I have you."

"Well, that's nice." Meteora said. "So, what are you planning on doing first?"

"That depends." It responded. "What are you planning on doing first?"

"One thing." Meteora said. "Remember that spell I used back at the Lucitor library to talk to you?"

"I do, yes."

"I want to use it again. But not on you."

"Who...do you plan on using it on?" The voice asked, with sudden ton of concern.

Meteora took a deep breath. "I want to find my mother."

**End chapter 18**

**A/N: I'm not sure if this is a good start to the next arc, so I hope it's well written. But we finally saw who hat voice is, the five levels of beings were introduced (that will definitely appear again) and now Meteora has a new roommate in her head. Lots of fun.**

**But remember all the voices comments in the third chapter that he said, so nothing that he says from this point on, (Or anything he said before really) should be interpreted as the truth.**

**But as usual, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or concerns.**


	19. Chapter 19: The unlucky spell caster

**A/N: Just like last chapter, sorry for the long update time. My Beta-reader is currently having internet problems, and I haven't heard back from him in a week, and I felt like I needed to do an update. **

**I'm not sure when the next chapter is going to be uploaded. Maybe the normal update time (4 days) or it might be longer. It also might be longer as I'm starting another fanfic, the first chapter of which I'll be posting later today. So it may or may not be a long wait again, as I'm going to be working on the other fanfic as well.**

**But I have no plans to end this fanfic or stop doing it anytime soon. Not with the stuff I have planned for later. If I do decide to end it for some reason, then you (the readers) will know.**

**Enjoy.**

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 19**

**The unlucky spell caster**

"_NO." _The voice responded sternly.

"What?!" Meteora said, slightly miffed by this response. "Why not?! I've used it before just fine. I don't see why you wouldn't let me use it now."

"_Still, absolutely not. You cannot cast that spell. It's too dangerous, even for you." _

"Why then?" Meteora asked. "Like I said, I used it before on you. What's the worst that could happen if I use it on my mother?"

"_You could die. Rather slowly. Also painfully."_

Meteora was taken slightly aback by this. That was _not _the response she was expecting. "What...what do you mean?"

"_Okay, listen. Remember when you were exhausted after you used those spells back at the Lucitor castle? How you passed out from exhaustion afterwards?"_

"Yeah…" Meteora said, starting to slightly understand what the voice was getting at.

"_Well, due to the fact that magic only exists in atomic form, there are rules when it comes to casting spells. Especially spells that don't include magical artifacts. You see, before magic existed, spells that were cast without wands or anything like that used both the magic from the user and the magic around them. For instance, in some of the more magic-rich dimensions magic is easier to cast than in others, due to the fact that magic is more plentiful in the environment around them. But that usually only works with wandless magic. When it comes to wands, you don't have to worry about magic not being in a dimension, due to the fact that the magic comes from the wand itself."_

"But I don't have a wand." Meteora said. "So does that mean that-"

"_Precisely." _The voice said. "_You see, due to the fact that you don't have a wand, and that your willpower isn't great enough to summon magic from the atoms themselves, the magic you cast is taken directly from your soul. Stamina. Life force. Whatever. But the point is that if you use to much magic at a time or if you use a spell that's too powerful, than you could literally die from your body giving out by being too tired. You won't even fall unconscious, you heart will just stop."_

Meteora shuddered at the thought of this happening to her. But then she remembered that she had cast the spell. And she honestly wasn't very tired after that. "But... the first time I cast that spell on you, I wasn't tired at all. What was up with that if the spell is too difficult I for me to use now?"

"_Well,"_ The voice said. "_You're talking about using it on an actual person here. A person with a physical form in this world. You successfully used it on me because one, I don't have a physical form, and thus it took much less energy to locate me and talk to me, and two, I am very good at talking to people that way as well. So it went two ways. But with your mother, it won't go two ways. So all the energy used in the spell will be cast by you. It will be too much for you to handle. You need to allow your powers to grow stronger before you use a spell like that on an actual person."_

Meteora sighed. She had been so hopeful so happy to finally get a chance to talk to her mother for the first real time in her life. Well, at least the life that she remembered. But how long had she waited for this moment? She had thought about it every day. She only had impressions of her, but those had always were enough to make her look forward to it.

But just like everything else, her hopes were dashed, her excitement ruined, and the impressions made pointless. How many times had this happened? Things she had been looking forward to for so long, only for them to become worthless. How much longer would this go on? How much longer would she have to wait to meet her? Months? Years? Decades? Her entire life?

Thankfully, the voice almost seemed to be reading her mind.

"_Don't worry." _It said, it's voice thundering in her head. "_I promise that you will talk to your mother soon. You just have to get comfortable with your powers. To allow them to grow. And I do think you like promises, right?"_

Meteora chuckled at this. "Preferably ones that don't take fifteen years and counting to fulfill."

"_Hm."_

"But really," Meteora said. "What exactly do I have to do to make my magic better? Use less powerful spells? And just keep doing them over and over until I get bored and move on to something else?"

"_Well, that depends. What do you want?" _It asked.

"What do I want?"

"_Yes. What would you like to do first? What is you goal in this?"_

"What I wanted to do was use that communication spell to talk to my mother. But I'm not ready for that yet, so I'm not sure what to do."

"_Then let's work on that."_

"Huh?" Meteora said in confusion.

"_If talking to you mother can't be the first thing you can do, then let's get to to do it as fast as possible. If you want to become strong enough to talk to her, then there might be a simpler way to do it. A shortcut even. And it might not have to include countless hours of me telling you spells to cast like some kind of video-game grinding mission. But then again, it's probably going to be like that anyways."_

"What's a video game?" Meteora asked, having never even heard of the concept before.

"_I...that's not important." _The voice responded. "_But did you hear what I said?"_

"Yes I did." Meteora said. "But what's this "shortcut" you're talking about?"

"_Your butterfly form."_

"My what?!" Meteora said incredulously, unsure if she had heard that correctly.

"_Your butterfly form. The form that you should have gained, or at least seen, from mewberty.."_

"Umm...I don't think I went through that. Or at least the part with the whole butterfly thing. And if I did, I don't remember it. So no. I didn't gain it."

"_I wasn't saying that you did. I said you should have gained it. But with magic gone, mewberty just turned into normal puberty or something. But that's besides the point."_

"Then what is the point?" Meteora asked, who honestly wanting to stop talking about mewberty and puberty and divert to another topic.

"_The point is that your butterfly form is much stronger than your...regular form, so to speak. It's stronger, more durable, and is better at casting spells. So if you use the dream communication spell while in that form, then you should be able to survive long enough that you can have a conversation with her. You'll have to hurry though. Even in that form, it will likely take a toll on you."_

"That…sounds like a plan." Meteora said hopefully. "But how do I get the butterfly form?"

"_An emotional event. Usually. So it could activate by protecting somebody, or trying to save somebody. That matters to you. Or you could be doing it out of revenge. Or it could just be given to you."_

"If that's the case," Meteora said. "Then why don't I just go and fight in the Underworld war? If it needs an emotional event or me trying to protect somebody to activate, than a war is the perfect opportunity."

"_Because it's tricky." _The voice responded. "_You could die before it activates. This could all just be speculation. Maybe it was something else in the last that caused it to happen, but for now, we can only wait and hope you can activate it on your own. Eventually, you should be able to use it on command. Once you get the hang of it."_

"And if I can't use it at all?"

The voice paused, almost as if didn't really want to answer that question.

"_If you can't use it...then we'll get to that point when we get there. But for now, you have to believe you can use it. If you don't believe you can, then you'll never be able to acquire it. Simple as that."_

"So how do I acquire it?" She asked.

"_Well, the butterfly form is a natural magical ability. So we should work on magic that doesn't use spell, but is simply natural."_

"...I'm confused." Meteora said. "How can I cast a spell if I don't even know its name?"

"_I'll tell you how. There are several types of spells. Attack spells, healing spells, defenses spells, the list goes on and on. But a magic user can use these spells without even having to say anything if they know how. They can know how to cast magical blasts without having to know the name of it for instance. If you want to get the butterfly form, then those types of spells would be a start."_

"Alright." She said. "Then let's get to it."

"_Good. Now, remember when you cast that purple ball spell back at the castle? How you cast it?"_

"Yeah." Meteora responded, vividly remembering the moment. "I just said the spells incantation or something, thought about it appearing, and it appeared."

"_Yes. Now, you're going to try to do the same thing, but without having to say anything."_

"And how," Meteora said. "Am supposed to do that?"

"_Well, now that you know you can do magic, now that your brain and body knows you can do magic, it should just come naturally, like I said. You should be able to imagine simple spells. Like attack spells or defense spells. With practice, casting those spells should be as easy as walking or talking."_

"With the side effect of constant exhaustion, right?"

"_Well, Yeah, but you should get used to it. It's like exercising. Your body just needs to get used to it. Once it does, it should be less exhausting as you use magic more and more. And then if you get the butterfly form, it should be even better. You should be able to use that for extended periods of time without ever getting tired, and eventually using magic might not even exhaust you at all. Magic is a muscle, and you have to make it stronger._

"You know, I like what you're saying. This all sounds good. So what's the first thing I should do if I want to use this "natural" magic."

"_Same thing you did with the earlier spells. Envision it coming into existence in your mind. Concentrate on it. Just...imagine you hand glowing or something with magical energy. And you have to fully believe you can do this. You can't have doubt."_

"Okay." She said. "Let me try."

Meteora put her hand in front of her and did as the voice said. She closed her eyes and concentrated on making the spells. Just like with the spell she had cast back at the Lucitors castle, but this time, there were no words for her to say. She didn't feel anything at first.

"_You still have doubt in you." _The voice said. "_Get rid of it. Erase it."_

"I'm trying." She responded.

'Come one." She thought to herself. 'You can do this. Just like back at the castle.'

A few seconds passed. Finally, after several moments of careful contemplation, she believed it. She suddenly felt like her hand had grown warm for a second, and she opened her eyes and looked down at it.

Her hand was glowing bright green, with the light seeming coming from within the hand itself. It reminded Meteora of when Janna first cast a spell at them, only hers was purple.

"Why is it green?" She asked.

"_I don't know." _The voice responded, being honest. "_I guess magic just decided that green is your color. It's a thing you can't really control."_

"Would I actually be able to change the color of it?"

"_Maybe, but that's not important. So good job. You did it. Now, it's time to really test it out."_

"So do I just point my hand at something and thrust my arm forward like with the spell at the castle."

"_That be how it works, yes."_

"Mmm Hmm." Meteora drew her arm back and aimed it in a random direction, although taking care to make sure that it wasn't in the directions of Echo creek or the two that were still asleep.

She took a deep breath, and quickly thrust her arm forward.

"Yah!" She yelled, as the light left her hand and shot forward in a white beam of magic with a green outline surrounding it. It shot off in the direction she was aiming her arm, flying through the air until she could see it anymore.

"Ummm…" Meteora nervously said, now remembering the potential collateral damage that could occur from the spell. "That's going to hit something eventually, right?"

"_It should. Don't worry about it. And by the way, why did you yell when you threw that attack?"_

"It felt appropriate." She said.

"_Right. But now we know you can do magic. Are you tired right now?"_

"A little, but not as much as I was when I used those ball spells."

"_Good. That means your body is already getting used to magic. Soon, the magic will come out like an explosion!"_

With almost perfect timing, a loud BOOM could suddenly be heard in the distance, no doubt the end result of Meteora's spell casting.

"Well…" Meteora said. "I hope I didn't hit anybody."

"_Eh. Don't worry about it. Even if you did, they're dead now."_

"Wow. Thanks." Meteora said sarcastically.

"_Just telling you the truth. Hopefully. But we'll continue this conversation later. Your friends just woke up. Just try and talk to me If you need me."_

Meteora looked to the side. Jenkins and Mariposa were sitting upright, no doubt having been woken up by the explosion Meteora caused.

"What the hell was that?" Jenkins asked. "Meteora, did you hear that explosion?"

"Ummm...no. I was woken up by it as well." Even though the voice hadn't said to her that she shouldn't tell Mariposa and Jenkins anything, she had a feeling that it would be better if they learned later. Plus, they had just woken up, and it would be best to tell them once they were fully awake.

"Right." Jenkins said, sounding unconvinced. "Doesn't matter. We're all up now anyways. Get some breakfast out of those packs Dave gave us, and then we'll head back to the Underworld."

Meteora winced. The voice had said that they should go back there until she had learned to get stronger with her power. She had just told them last night that she would go to the Underworld with them, and now she had to tell them that they should wait?

"Yeah, about that." She said.

Everybody present (all two of them) looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Mariposa asked, concerned. "Do you not want to go? I thought that was the whole plan."

"Listen," Meteora said. "I think we should-"

"YOU SCUMFUCKS!" An extremely angry, deep, and sudden voice called out.

Everybody turned towards the source of the voice. A random monster was standing there. He looked rather troll-like, and he had definitely seen better days, as he had multiple burns on him that looked like they had been given to him just a few minutes ago.

He was holding up a small revolver, pointed directly at them. Jenkins quickly got up and stepped in front of Meteora and Mariposa.

"Look man," He said. "You don't have to do this, you can just-"

"SHUT UP!" The monster said. "I just had everything taken away from me! And the only people around here are you assholes! It had to be you! So which one of you did it?!"

"Did what?!" Jenkins asked.

"Blew up my truck! I was just driving along, when I saw a green flash of light that slammed into the extra gas tank I had on the back, and it ignited and blew up the whole damn thing! It's all gone! That was everything I had! And it came from this direction! So which one of you was it?!"

'Oh shit.' Meteora thought, shocked. 'Are you seriously kidding me? What are the odds of that? Great. Now I just blew up some guy's truck and we're probably gonna get shot.'

Jenkins tried not to look at Meteora, somehow convinced that she was somehow behind this whole mess. "Okay...but I have a better idea."

He started slowly walking toward the monster, whose hand started shaking upon seeing Jenkins approach. "Stay back!" He yelled. "I won't hesitate to shoot you!"

"I believe you." Jenkins said. "But there's another option. You said you just lost all your things, all your supplies, and I'm going to guess that you lost people in the past as well."

The monster started looking side to side, remembering all of these things. "Ye-Yeah."

"Well, I know a place where you can get lots of supplies and there are lots of people who will take care of you. In fact, _we _were just about to go there as well."

"Where-where is it?" The monster asked.

"It's the Underworld." Jenkins responded. "Now I know that doesn't sound very positive, but trust me, there's people and supplies there. And even though a war is about to break out, I can promise you won't be alone there. So…" Jenkins held out his hand. "Just give me that gun, and then you can come with us there."

The monster seemed to consider this. Unfortunately… "No." He said. "Not after everything I've done to get to this point. I want my revenge. And I'm gonna start with girl with the tail and the elf-like ears!" He raised the gun directly at Meteora's head.

Meteora immediately tensed up in fear and put her hands in front of her face to shield herself from the bullet. But Jenkins quickly rushed forwards and grabbed the monster's hand just as he pulled the trigger on the gun.

The bullet missed its main mark, but didn't miss entirely. Meteora felt an intense pain as the bullet whizzed past her head and struck her right ear.

"AHHH!" She cried out in pain, falling to her knees and holding her ear, which was now bleeding profusely. The bullet had taken out the entire top of her right earlobe.

"METEORA!" Jenkins yelled. He turned back towards the monster in rage and instantly gave him a devastating head butt, knocking him to the ground. "You're going to pay for that." He growled.

The monster attempted to raise the gun and shoot Jenkins, but he wasn't fast enough, and Jenkins grabbed the gun and smashed him across the face with it.

But the monster wasn't completely defenseless. Just as Jenkins attempt to hit him again, the monster grabbed his hand and pushed it back. The monster was just as strong as Jenkins, if not more so. He got up off the ground and attempted to wrestle the gun out of Jenkins grip, while Jenkins attempted to stop him from doing this, and the two stood in a stalemate for a few seconds.

Mariposa, meanwhile, was at Meteora's side, seeing if she was alright. She was still on her knees, in agony. Then she heard a familiar voice.

"_Hey. I need to talk to you_."

"Are you insane?" Meteora growled through clenched teeth, confusing Mariposa. "This is not a good time."

"_Actually." _The voice said. "_Now is the perfect time. There is an enemy right in front of you. He hurt you. He doesn't feel remorse for doing It. So you shouldn't feel remorse either. Use your magic. End this threat. You can do it."_

"I- are you sure?" Meteora asked.

"_Yes. Do it."_

"And all I have to do is-"

"_The exact same thing you did to that truck. Don't hold back."_

"Yeah." Meteora said. "Okay."

Meteora got up off the ground, ignoring the pain in what was left of her ear.

"Meteora, What are you doing?" Mariposa asked her.

Meteora ignored the comment. She felt like she was on autopilot, like she didn't even control over her own body. Like an emotionless robot, made only to follow a single command. She walked towards the monster and Jenkins, both of whom were still trying to wrestle the gun from each other's grip.

"Jenkins." She said, completely without emotion. Jenkins and the monster looked towards her. "On my signal. Move out of the way."

Meteora didn't wait for his response. She did the same thing the voice had shown her earlier, imaging the spell working. Before she knew it, her hand started glowing green again. Everybody's eyes widened at the sight.

Meteora raised her hand and pointed at them both. "Now." She said. Jenkins understood and pushed himself off the monster, shoving him to the ground again. He quickly got up and aimed the gun back at Meteora, but it was too late.

She thrust her arm forward and a burst of magical energy flew straight and true towards the monster, hitting him. Meteora could catch his outline as a small explosion of magic consumed him, turning him and the weapon he held into ash. It was almost like the spell was programmed to hurt him and only him. Nobody else suffered because of it.

The sheer viciousness of the act that Meteora just committed shocked Jenkins and Mariposa for a second. They both stood still, staring at the spot where the man had stood, unsure what to make of it. Jenkins slowly approached Meteora cautiously, making sure that she wasn't going insane with a form of magic that nobody could have predicted. "Hey…" He said. "Are you okay?"

Meteora stared back at him and Jenkins immediately took a step back. One look in her eyes terrified him to the point that he thought she was about to kill him too.

But the question did seem to bring Meteora back into reality. She blinked a few times, as if being woken up from a dream. The realization of what she just did came back to her. She looked at the pile of ash in shock.

"Um...Meteora?" Mariposa asked. She hadn't seen her eyes, luckily for her, but she could tell that something was definitely wrong.

Meteora ignored her, backed away from the ash, and then ran off.

"Hey!" Jenkins said. "Come back!" Although in the back of his mind, he knew she probably needed her space. It had looked as if even _she _had been shocked by what just happened.

Meteora kept running until she realized that there was no point to running, and she fell to her knees, slightly hyperventilating.

"_Are you okay?" _The voice asked.

"What do you think?" Meteora answered.

"_No?"_

"Yeah. No. I'm not okay. Not at all."

"_Why?"_

If she could, the glare that Meteora would be giving the voice would terrify even the most psychotic of people.

"WHY?!" She said. "I don't know, maybe it's the fact that I felt like I didn't even have control of my own body for a second! It felt like I couldn't control that action. Maybe it's because I just killed- no, because I just literally _vaporized _someone who only wanted to take revenge for something that _I _did. He didn't even have to be part of this! Plus, that doesn't even begin to cover my right ear! I don't have a mirror, but from what I can feel, I think the entire top earlobe is gone! Finally, I still have zero memories of some of my previous interactions with you, so I'm afraid that I'll lose more of my memories later! So, that's why! That's why I'm not okay!"

"_..."_

"What? Nothing to say?"

The voice make a sound as if had taken a deep breath, even though it probably didn't even have a need to breathe at all. "_Listen. I get it. This didn't need to happen. But that person...he would have killed you. You did what you had too. Even if he wasn't supposed to be here. But…"_

"But what?" Meteora said. "What's the good reason that that monster died?"

"_Okay. There is no good reason. There are only choices. And the choices you make are more important than anything. From before. From here on out. You have to make the right ones, so that things like this won't happen again."_

"So what choice should I make next?" Meteora asked.

"_Well, you should go back to the others so that ear doesn't get infected. I'm sure that those bags Dave gave you have some medical stuff in it somewhere."_

"Alright." She said.

With that, she started walking back towards the point she had ran away from, hoping that the others weren't terrified of her.

**End chapter 19**

**A/N: Hm. A few things happened. The death of that monster will definitely affect Meteora later on in this arc, and unfortunately Jenkins wasn't fast enough to save her from not being shot. **

**And that ear wound is slightly more important than it seems. There will be things in this arc that seem small, but play a bigger part later on.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please leave a review or PM me if you have any questions or comments.**


	20. Chapter 20: Memory lane, part 1

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 20**

**Memory lane, part 1**

"OW! Jeez, could you be a little more careful?"

Jenkins sighed. "I'm trying, but it's not like I have any painkillers. I told you this was going to hurt."

"Fine. Keep going. Just...try and make it look as good as you can."

Jenkins was busy trying to bandage Meteora's ear. Those packs that Dave had given them had a little bit of everything, including several first aid kits. Neither Jenkins nor Meteora wanted her ear wound to get infected, lest they add another problem to a list already several miles long.

Although it had taken her a while to even get close to them. Both Jenkins and Mariposa kept their distance from Meteora when she reappeared after running roughly a few hundred feet away from them, obviously afraid of her.

It was understandable. After Meteora had killed that monster that had threatened them, she should have expected them to be wary of her, especially due to the brutal and uncaring way she did it. Almost like a machine made to follow orders.

But after she finally convinced them that she wasn't like that, (or at least not anymore) they stopped backing away from her anytime she took a step towards them. Which led to this situation.

Jenkins tightened the bandage on her ear, and Meteora flinched from the pain. He stepped back and looked at his handiwork, unsure of what to make of it.

"So?" Meteora said. "How bad is it?"

"Well, ummm…" Jenkins said, no doubt not looking forward to telling her. "It's...okay."

Meteora sighed. "It looks terrible, doesn't it?"

Jenkins nodded slowly. "It's not terrible, but it's not great. The top of your earlobe is gone, and it's not going to heal back that much other than putting a layer of skin over the wound."

"So the end of my ear isn't going to become pointy or anything again? Like how it looked before?"

"Nope. Sorry."

'_Great.' _She thought. '_Another scar. That makes...four now? I think.'_

"Anyways," Jenkins said. "I know you're not in that...mood or whatever that was that your were in back there, but can you explain that to me?"

Meteora leaned back and purposefully let herself fall over. "I don't know myself. I was just casting that spell, and it suddenly felt like I wasn't in control of my own body for a second. Like it was somebody else's."

Jenkins didn't say anything to this. He narrowed his eyes, as if he was annoyed at this answer. He turned away from Meteora and started mumbling several intelligible things to himself.

The voice suddenly spoke up after having remained quiet for a few minutes."_So when are you going to tell them about how you don't want to go back to the Underworld?" _It asked.

"First off," Meteora said. "The Underworld thing is your whole idea. Second, I was going to tell them, but then that monster interrupted me. So...I guess I'll tell them now. But what should I say?"

"_What I told you. You are not strong enough to fight in that war right now. None of you are. You saw those demons. They're all like that. If you fight in that war, they will crush you. So you have to learn more about your magical abilities so you can get stronger with them. With that, you might have a chance."_

"Okay. No time like the present I suppose. Hey, um, you guys?" She said, directed towards Mariposa and Jenkins. Both of them turned to look at her. "So, as I was saying earlier, I think we should hold off going to the Underworld to fight in their war."

"You're kidding, right?" Mariposa said in disbelief. "Just yesterday you were all in for going there to fight in that war. We all were. And now you're saying that you don't want to go? Why?"

"Well...l…." Meteora was suddenly at a loss for words. She wasn't sure how they would think about her having to grow her magic abilities, due to the fact that _she _was the only one actually getting stronger. Jenkins and Mariposa would probably just have to wait around.

"_Tell then what I told you." _The voice said, seeming to read her thoughts. "_They'll understand."_

Meteora took a deep breath and did just that. She explained everything to them, about how she thought they would be strong enough to last that long in the war, about how she could get more magic and how they would stand a better chance in the war, even about the voice and how it could teach her things. (Jenkins seemed to be slightly on edge at this part, and it seemed to bother him greatly.)

Both Jenkins and Mariposa looked at each other after she had finished her explanation.

"Yeah...give us a minute." He moved slightly away from Meteora and motioned for Mariposa to follow him. She did, and they started discussing things that Meteora couldn't hear a word of.

"What if they say no?" Meteora asked.

"_Then we...just go to the Underworld and hope you can get strong enough to survive before you die."_

"Fantastic." She said sarcastically.

Finally, Jenkins and Mariposa finished talking to each other. Jenkins walked over to Meteora.

"Okay." He said. "We'll stay here and allow you to grow your magic with help from this..._voice._" He said the word _voice_ with an enormous amount of contempt, not bothering to try and hide it.

"Wait, really?" Meteora said. "Just like that? We're cool?"

"Yeah." Mariposa chimed in. "If there's a chance that we can survive longer in that war, why would there be a reason we should take it? Sure, the war would start without us, but if you can grow strong enough with your magic to constant be able to perform spells like that one you did to destroy that tank, _can't believe I missed that, _then it's a win-win for everybody."

Well, this went better than Meteora had expected. "So, I guess we should just wait here and-"

"Actually," Jenkins interjected, "we're going to go back to Echo creek. We figured it's best that we stay as close to that portal as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if the war spreads to the surface. So if anyone comes through, then we should be ready to take them down or help them, based on what side they're on. So get your stuff, because we're going to Echo creek and staying there until that voice thinks you're strong enough, or until we run out of supplies. Preferably the former happens first, considering that we already know that Echo creek is completely wiped clean of anything useful."

With that, Jenkins grabbed the pack that Dave had given him and Mariposa did the same. He then looked over at Meteora. "Well, you're going to follow us right? Or does that voice want you to stay here as well?"

"Ummm.."

"_Oh no, I'm all for this. Go to Echo creek. In fact, being there might help with a few things."_

"Okay. Yeah, I'm coming." Meteora said, grabbing the pack.

So they set off. Walking back through a wasteland towards a town that no longer existed, next to a portal that led to a world in which the oldest tradition was about to break out.

A few minutes into the 8-hour long journey, Meteora started talking to the voice again. "So, what's the first thing we're going to do once we get there?" She asked.

"_Well, there are a few things. What do you think would be a good starter? I mean, besides blowing up a truc-"_

"Please don't mention that. I'd much rather forget it."

"_Sorry. But what do you think we should do?"_

"There...is actually something I want to do when we get there. I've been thinking about it for a while?"

"_What is it?" _The voice asked her.

"I'll tell you later." Meteora said with a smile.

"_That's my line."_

Meteora laughed. "Yeah, I know."

**8 hours later…**

After what seemed like a god-awful amount of walking, Echo creek, (or at least what was left of it) finally came into view. The large silhouettes of the Butterfly castle and the monster temple came into view, a pleasing sight after so many miles of empty land.

But then there was the rest. Just destroyed houses and buildings. A reminder. A reminder that they got several times a day. Each time more painful than the last. But eventually, one had to grow to become numb to the pain.

One had to grow to become numb to everything.

Jenkins and the others walked to the edge of town where the buildings were _slightly _less destroyed. Maybe they could stay somewhere that wouldn't collapse at a moments notice.

They found one. A small, empty, square shaped building that seemed to have been some kind of shop. It had had two gigantic windows in the front that were now smashed, and everything inside was gone.

"Well, good as a place as any…" Jenkins muttered, throwing the pack to the floor. He then leaned up against a wall and let himself slide down to the floor.

"So, um, what should we do?" Mariposa asked.

"I don't care." He answered. "Just don't go outside the town limits. Or go to the portal. Just...do whatever."

"You're not being overly cautious here." Mariposa said, confused by his uncaring mood.

"Hey, you guys gotta do something without me for once, right? You're teenagers! Go vandalize a wall or blow up a dumpster! I don't care! Go enjoy the time we still have!" He said, with a rather cheerful disposition.

This was odd.

Both of them stared at him.

"Righhhht." Meteora said slowly. "I'm just gonna...head on out of here. See you later...I guess." With that she threw her pack to the ground and speed-walked out of the building, as if Jenkins behavior had disturbed her.

Mariposa watched her leave and then turned back to Jenkins. "So what was all that about?"

"What do you mean?" He said.

"What I mean is why were you acting like like that? "Go blow up a dumpster?" Is that the kind of stuff you did in your childhood?"

"No." He responded. "No, I just, I can't take it anymore. So much shit has happened lately. I'm worried. About the future. About what comes next."

Mariposa leaned up against a wall and slid to the floor as Jenkins had just done. "Yeah. I am too. I wonder how much the therapy tax for us would be if we ever went to one. The amount of stuff I could say is enormous."

"Therapy _bills._" He corrected.

"That's another thing!" She blurted out. "All the stuff we know, everything we've learned, is all the stuff you taught us. I wonder how much stuff here is to know that we don't right now. Like, right now! Teach me something. Tell me something that I don't know. That you've never told me before."

Jenkins looked at her blank-faced, not really knowing what she was going on about. "Ummm...the Unicorn was the national animal of Scotland?"

"I don't know what a Unicorn or Scotland is! I still don't. But I still know something new. I wonder what other stuff I'll learn soon."

"Mariposa, what is the point to all of this?" Jenkins asked, starting to get somewhere between confused and annoyed.

"The point is...the point is...it's that I wonder about all the things I could never know. About you. About my parents. About _me! _We could die in that demon war and I would never know. I'm afraid that I'll never learn the things I want to know. I feel like soon i'll just be killed by one of the numerous people trying to kill us. And where do I even start with them? Everyday is just one threat after the other, all of them equally alike in their desire to kill us. Janna, Drosid, random scavengers, they're all just...the same. We are too. We're all just trying to survive in one way or another. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to do it."

Jenkins was about to interrupt her monologue, but she continued, not bothering to skip a beat, going over one topic and then switching to another.

"It's the same thing in history. There are no "good guys" or "bad guys." Just opinions, sides, and factions. All the wars you told me about that happened before the apocalypse, the outcome is the same. The winners win, the losers lose, and fifty years later, they're back at it, grasping for the knife that would slit their enemies throats and maybe, just maybe, finally end all the fighting. But if the enemy dies, then their offspring will rise up to avenge their parents death, and the cycle will continue.

But you know what? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there _is _a right way to survive, to win a war, to fight an enemy. But I don't know it. Just another thing I don't know. A thing that I might never know if I die today, or tomorrow, or the day after that. Maybe Drosid actually had a good reason to kill everybody that's not a demon. But he's not going to tell us. He never will, because he doesn't get anything out of it.

So In the end, it's all just...a clash of what we think is right because of the few things that we've learned."

Jenkins remained silent, thinking about everything that Mariposa had just said. She had given him a lot to think about. She had showed what she had thought about so many things, and some of her opinions on them weren't that different from his own. He realized something.

She had gotten these opinions on her own.

When he had taught Mariposa and Meteora about the wars of the past, he rarely spoke about any side in a bad way, no matter how horrible their crimes were. He wanted _them _to find out their own stance on the matter. He was actually afraid of what they might come up with, considering the environment they grew up it: Chaotic, empty, and usually devoid of happiness.

But now he saw. They didn't care. They didn't see good or bad. They only saw people. They had decided that if those people were firing at them, then they would fire back. But for no other reason than that.

He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He was more worried about how their parents would react to their current personalities.

But then again, once they learned that _he _was the one that raised them, they would probably expect the worst.

Time to change topic. He could lose sleep over what Mariposa had said later.

"I'm worried about her." He said.

"Who? Meteora?"

"Yeah. It's that voice she talked about. I don't know about you, but I'm not trusting it for a second. It refused to talk to me back at the castle and now it's teaching Meteora magic. It's too convenient. It has to have ulterior motives. Of some kind."

"What kind of motives do you think it has?" Mariposa asked.

"It could be anything."

"You know…" Mariposa said. "Why can't you just learn to be more trusting of this? Who knows, maybe this will work out for our benefit."

"It might. But I wonder what Meteora's doing right now…"

**A few blocks away…**

"_Where are you going?" _The voice asked, curious of her destination.

"I'm going back to the Butterfly castle. There's something there that I saw before that I want to see again."

"_Is it the tapestry of your mother?"_

"...Yes."

"_I understand. After all your excitement about talking to her, you want to see her again, don't you?"_

"Of course I do." She responded. "All the time. I've been long with the same two people for my entire life. One of which is my sort-of sister, and the other is a foster father. I never met my _real _family. That tapestry, and the few emotions I get out of it, is all I really have. Now stop talking for a bit, I just want some silence for a while."

The voice obeyed her request, and Meteora continued the slow walk through the remains of the town towards the castle. It all looked the same. She wondered how it had looked back before it was...blown up. She could try and imagine it in her mind, but it wouldn't be the real thing. She only had thoughts of what it was like, not images. The difference between those two things was impossible to measure, so she couldn't truly know what it was like.

She walked on.

Finally, she reached the castle. It looked the same as they had left it, broken and in pieces. But possibly fixable, if one was careful in doing so. She entered and went straight towards the room she was looking for: The tapestry room. The room was the same as well. All the Tapestries were there, as well as the pedestals that described each queen. She walked over to her mothers and stared up at it.

But...there was nothing. She didn't get any emotions from looking at it. She did once, when she first saw it, but now that she knew what her mother looked like, an image that she had seen before didn't convey the same feelings that it had given her earlier.

The voice, sensing her non-emotion towards the image, spoke up.

"_What's wrong?" _It asked.

Meteora sighed. "It's just not the same, you know? I already saw this image of her. Seeing it the second time isn't as exciting as I thought it would be. I want to talk to her so badly, to at least hear her voice, but I can't."

"_You can, actually."_

"What?"

"_I was going to tell you later, but seeing the state you're in now, I think it's best if I tell you."_

"What do you want to tell me?" Meteora asked.

"_There...is a way that you can see your mother. It won't be her, as in, you won't be able to talk to her or interact with her in anyway, but it will still be her. The memories of her."_

"Wait." Meteora said. "Are you saying you could access my _memories _of her?"

"_Not yours. Mine."_

"Your memories?"

"_Indeed. Every since I was trapped in this world. I kept a close eye on the people that I believe were important to it in the grand scheme. You mother was one of them, as was Jenkins, Star, and...you. So I have many memories of her. I can show you them. They would basically be visions of the past."_

"That...sounds like something I want to see. But how do you access them?"

"_First, go to sleep. I can't show you them in the real world. I don't have any really power there other than to talk to you. But in your mind, in your thoughts, I am in complete control."_

"Okay." Meteora's raised her arm and pointed her open hand at her head.

"_Wait, what are you-"_

"I'm using spell I accidentally hit myself with when I was back at the Lucitor library. It put me to sleep instantly."

"_...Okay, before we go using spells on ourselves, why don't we consider the other options first-"_

"Too late!" Meteora said. "Sleep spell!"

Just like last time, her hand immediately started glowing yellow, and a beam of magic shot out of it and struck her in the head, knocking her out. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.

**Somewhere…**

Meteora opened her eyes and sat up. She thought she was still awake for a second, as she was still in the tapestry room, but the sudden surrounding darkness made her realize that the spell worked.

"See?" She said. "It worked."

The voice spoke to her, no longer coming from inside her head, but from the surrounding area, proving once again that the spell had worked.

"_That could have gone very wrong. You could have slipped up and made yourself fall into a permanent coma. As hard as it is to believe, sleep spells were not invented to be used on oneself."_

"That's great." Meteora said. "Now, What are you going to show me?"

"_Well...do you want to see your mother first, or another event? I can show as many things as you like. Unlike when I spoke to you earlier, now that I'm in complete control of you mind, time is infinite."_

"What...do you mean by that?" Meteora said nervously.

"_I control time here. Although we are talking normally in your mind, in the real world, no time is passing. When you wake up, not a second will have passed. It makes communication in this place much easier, because even in the most dire of situations we can take time to talk. You won't age either. You can effectively live forever in this place. As long as I am here, that is."_

"How are you able to do that?" She asked. "I know you're in control of my mind, but being in control of time as well seems like a bit much."

The voices tone suddenly shifted, and it sounded like it was smiling. "_Meteora, did you forget who I was? I was a level three being. I was a master of the mind. I could manipulate minds to an extent you only dream of. My time manipulation and my ability to create anything is only a glimpse of what I could truly do, and now that I have full control_ _of your mind, I regained some of my powers with that control."_

"What else could you do?"

"_Hm. Possession, physical interaction, control over memories...all sorts of stuff. But those powers required me to be at my full potential. They died with the magic dimension. But now that I've got your full attention, would you like to see your mother?"_

"Actually," Meteora said. "Not yet."

"_What?" _The voice said, sounding surprised. "_Why not?"_

"I mean, you said "time is infinite." If we have all the time in the world to do whatever we want, than I don't want to just skip to the chase. I wanted to cast that communication spell at first because I thought I wouldn't always be able to, but now that I can see her whenever I want with no repercussions for what happens to my _real _body, than I want to see a few other things first. Save the best for last, you know?"

"_I'm...impressed by your self-restraint. But it's your choice. So what would you like to see first?"_

"Well," Meteora said. "You said that I would be the one to reunite the world. To make all the hatred and bigotry against monsters and other people go away. I want to see some of this hatred first hand. I want to see these people."

"_As you wish." _

Instantly, the entire area was shrouded in darkness, and then seemed to warp and change. Meteora could see the ceiling fade away and turn into a sky with several clouds overhead. Buildings rose from the ground as if they were growing plants, and people around her seemed to just come into existence. But the second it all finished forming, it all came to life. The clouds started slowly moving through the sky, and the people started moving around.

"Wait! Wait!" Meteora said. "Freeze it! Freeze the scene or something!"

Everything froze in place, as if someone had pressed the pause button on the remote control for the universe.

"_What's wrong?"_

"I...give me a minute."

Meteora looked at her surroundings. This...this was it. This was the world. What it had looked like _before. _Before everything. It was so different, yet so famili- no. No, it wasn't familiar. Nothing she had seen before looked like this. The buildings were still intact. The people were dressed normally and didn't looked like they wanted to rob you and take everything you had. This was the world she was supposed to bring back. She wondered if it was possible. She looked down the street, seeing the cars frozen in place. She had never seen one of those moving before as well. In fact, that tank back at the Lucitors castle was the first moving vehicle she saw. Every other vehicle they found was either out of gas or wrecked beyond repair.

She started walking down the street. She looked in the window of one of the many stores occupying the town, and she reached out to grab the doorknob to go inside of it. But it didn't work. Her hand passed through the doorknob, as if she was a ghost, unable to interact with the world around her.

"_I told you." _The voice said. "_I can't use my full powers, so you aren't able to interact with the real world. Sorry." _It said, genuinely sounding sorry that it couldn't do this for her.

Meteora frowned and kept moving down the street. She looked at the surrounding landmarks of the town. The numerous castles and fortresses of Mewni, especially the Butterfly castle and the monster temple, looked so much different. They were intact. They had no outside damage whatsoever. Well, the monster temple looked like it had been damaged and then repaired, but other than that, it looked fine.

She started walking toward the temple, when she turned a corner and practically ran into one of the "people" that was standing in the middle of the road for some reason.

But then she realized that this person wasn't alone. There was a large crowd of humans (and some Mewmans as well) behind this person. It looked like an angry mob. Which it was. Several of them held signs with anti-monster things written on them, and others held clubs or bats.

"Oh…" Meteora realized what this was. "I did ask you to show me the anger and hatred towards monsters, didn't I?"

"_Yes."_ The voice responded_. "This mob is one of many that occurred. The third one that happened this week. I saw many of them, but they didn't escalate too much. But this one...look to your right."_

Meteora did so and was met with another mob blocking the road, but his one was composed of monsters. Most looked scared, but some looked angry and ready to fight.

"What's this?" Meteora asked.

"_What do you think?" _The voice said. "_When you fight against someone, you should expect them to fight back. The monsters weren't going to take these mobs sitting down. Not after all they had suffered to get to the point that they were. They had lost so much just to finally get a rightful place in Mewni, and now they were thrust into a new world, with a whole new species that was afraid of them. They got tired of it, and they formed their own mob."_

"So...what happened next?"

"_Why don't we find out?"_

The scene then unfroze, and a flurry of sounds came to Meteora's ears. Shouts, yells, and other similar noises were heard from both mobs, and neither seemed like they were going to give up. They started inching closer to one another, and for a second it seemed like a full out fight was about to happen.

"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Meteora said.

"_Well…"_

Meteora suddenly heard what sounded like a rumbling sound. She turned around and was met with the second biggest vehicle she had seen. It looked like a mix between a tank and a van, and there were several other identical vehicles traveling behind it. Meteora quickly stepped sided to get out of their way, forgetting that nothing could touch her, and they passed on by.

The tank-van brigade stopped a roughly ten feet away from the mobs, but they didn't even notice. They were too busy putting power into their shouts to notice.

A hatch situated on the top of the front vehicle opened, and a man stepped out, covered in body armor and holding an assault rifle.

"Wait." Meteora said. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. "Is that..._Jenkins_?!"

"_Why are you surprised?" _The voice said. "_He was, after all, the head of the E.D.F.. It was his job to do things like this."_

"I know that." Meteora said. "It's just, I've never seen him like that before. I'm not going to lie, he looks terrifying. If I met him while he was dressed like that, I wouldn't pick a fight, even if I had my magic. He's… just so different."

"_Fifteen years can truly change a person, hm? Come, let's see what happens next."_

The "old" Jenkins stood on top of the vehicle and overlooked both crowds. Nobody noticed him. He sighed and without skipping a beat, he pointed his assault rifle in the air and continuously fired it for 5 seconds.

_That _got everybody's attention. Both angry mobs stopped their shouting and turned toward him.

"DISPERSE AND GO HOME!" He yelled. "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING TODAY!"

"Yeah?" One of the human protesters yelled. "And what will you do if we don't?"

Old Jenkins frowned, jumped off the top of the tank-can and pointed his gun towards the man's head. "Then we will use lethal force, and you will die."

The man backed away, as did the rest of the crowd. Slowly but surely, they started walking away. Eventually, they all left, and the monster protesters were all that was left.

The leader of the monster mob, a creature that looked like is between a moose and a lion, approached him.

"Thank you for-" He started, but before he could say any more, old Jenkins punched him in the face, and the monster fell to the ground.

"Don't." Old Jenkins said. "I thought I sent a message to Eclipsa to not let any of her citizens do something like this. If you monster form a mob, then the rest of the town will, and you will fight each other and it will be a bloodbath. If I see a mob in these streets ever again, I will not hesitate to open fire."

The monster that he had just punched spat out some blood and stared up at him. "You'd fire on your people?!"

"Well, It would mostly rubber bullets, but yeah. Now, take your little group that you have here and go home. I'm going to go talk to the Queen and everybody else else and sort out this shit show."

The monster growled at Old Jenkins, but did no more. He got up and went back to the rest of the monster mob, which started to trickle away until the streets were empty.

"Well, that was excessive." Meteora said.

"_But extremely entertaining nonetheless. After a while, you don't bother trying to negotiate. You make a show of force and that's all that's needed."_

"So what happens now?" She asked.

"_Well, If we're going to see things that relate to the hatred and bigotry, then the next part would be the meeting between Jenkins and the leaders of Echo creek. I remember that clearly."_

"Alright." Meteora said. "Then let's go and see how that played out."

**End chapter 20**

**A/N: I know this is an abrupt ending, but I didn't want to this chapter to get **_**too **_**long. It also makes a good starter for 21.**

**Also have a bit of writer's block on how to transition from this scene to the next big one, so that's also a thing.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	21. Chapter 21: Memory lane, part 2

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 21**

**Memory lane, part 2**

As per Meteora's request, the town, it's people, and everything else that surrounded her suddenly faded away. Once again, she was surrounded by nothing but darkness.

"_Before we go on…" _The voice said. "_I should warn you."_

"Of what?" Meteora asked.

"_You said that you wanted to see your mother last. Save the best for last is what you said. Well, if we go to this meeting, she's going to be there. So saving the best for last won't necessarily happen."_

"Oh. Well...I guess...it's okay. I suppose it's inevitable anyway." Meteora said, with a tone that sounded like it had physically hurt her to say it.

The voice noticed the uncertainty in her voice. "_Are you sure?"_

"Just do it."

"_Very well."_

The scene change. Suddenly, they were standing in a great room, a huge table set in the middle, with several chairs and people surrounding it. Some of these people Meteora recognized, but she didn't recognize at all.

"Is this it?" She asked.

"_Yes. This is the meeting room. Reserved only for the highest and important emergencies. All the Mewnian royal family's and monarchs come to this place in times of crisis to decide what to do. Most of the time however, the families don't get involved. There's only one here at the moment."_

"Which one?"

"_Look to your left. The guy with the beak."_

Meteora did so and saw a large, green, overweight, beaked monster wearing a beat-up crown and an expression that said "I hate you all."

"Is that...Ludo?" She asked.

"_What? No, why would you-"_

"In Jenkins stories, he told us about this guy named Ludo that was apparently a troublemaker on Earth and Mewni. That guy kind of matches his description."

"_Well, that's actually Lord Brudo. He's Ludos father."_

"Ludo belonged to a royal family?"

"_Not entirely, but as his father is a Lord...of something, he belongs to some kind of royalty. Brudo is basically all the monsters have for a royal family. It's the closest they've got. So with Eclipsa's new monster loving Mewni, he was invited."_

"Let me guess." Meteora said. "He other royals are pissed that's he's here."

"_If it makes it any better, he doesn't want to be here either. He would rather be at home, playing with his scratch-and-sniff stickers."_

"I...can't tell if you're joking or not."

"_Quite. But before we get this started, let's go around the room."_

The entire scene froze, just like Meteora had the voice so back down in the street. Everything stopped moving, and it was just her.

"_So, who else do you see?" _The voice asked.

"Well…" She looked around the table. "I see a few I recognize. I see Brudo, Jenkins...for some reason. Why is he here?"

"_Are you kidding? After the whole mob incident, he's here to restore order. This town is the epicenter of the new world that he has to help govern, and he's not going to just sit around and let others do the work for him."_

"Makes sense." Meteora continued looking at the figures. "Hmm. Uh, I think that's Moon? Stars mom. And that must've Star right next to her, and…"

Meteora examined the boy next to Star. For some reason, she took an instant dislike to him. "This is Marco, right? Mariposa's brother?"

"_That's him. Let me guess, you hate him, right?"_

"Yeah, actually. How'd you know?"

"_Let's just say he did some things to you, and you were never the one to forget them."_

"...Okay, you just made it sound like he did a bunch of really terrible things."

"_I did, didn't I? It wasn't that bad. It was definitely for the better that he did them. No matter. Keep looking."_

Meteora sighed. "Okay. Let's see. There's a few I don't recognize or remember, if Jenkins had ever told me about them. A giant horse head, some kind of thing that looks like it spends way too much time underwater, a few people with a bunch of...bug bites? And at the end of the table, it's…"

Meteora paused, and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "...My mother. And father."

She simply stared at them, unsure what to make of it. They looked exactly how they had looked in the tapestry. She walked over to them until she was only a few feet away. She put her arm out to touch them, but recoiled, knowing that she couldn't really touch them. This was still a memory. A memory of the past.

Meteora shook off her feelings and continued looking around the table. "So where am I right now?" She asked.

"_You mean...baby you?"_

"Yeah."

"_In a crib. At the monster temple."_

"And Mariposa?"

"_Also there as well. You two spent a lot of time together as babies. Your currently being watched by...Janna."_

Meteora nearly choked on the air she was breathing. "Crap." She said. " I forgot that she said she used to babysit us. What the hell turned her into what she became? Even for her, it seemed so...out of character."

"_Tell you what, after this meeting, let's go see her. Maybe you can try and find out why."_

"How would you know?" Meteora asked. "Aren't you here right now? How could you be at two places at once?"

"_A wise man once said "sometimes, one place isn't interesting enough."_

Meteora paused. "It was Glossaryck, wasn't it?"

"_How did you know?"_

"It just feels like something he would say."

"_No, I mean, how did you know? How could you possibly remember him? I believe you had a few experiences with him when you were younger, but that was far too young to remember it. Unless you somehow gained some subconscious memories of him?"_

"Why would I be gaining memories? I think losing them is more appropriate. I still haven't regained any memories of our past experiences together, so whatever's causing that is still in effect. How could I be gaining memories and losing them at the same time?"

There was no answer.

"Are you there?" Meteora asked.

"_I, I need to go somewhere for a second. Just stay here."_

"Wait." Meteora said. "Go where-"

But in an instant, the voice was gone. Meteora could feel it in her head. She was alone again. Truly alone. Well, alone with the memory people, who still remained.

Meteora shrugged and continued looking at them. There was nothing particularly special about them though. She wondered what was wrong with the voice. It wasn't like him...or it to-

Her thought process suddenly stopped and her disbelief processor kicked into overdrive as something caught her eye. Right there, next to Eclipsa and her father, was Glossaryck. The little blue magic man. The one she just mentioned.

It almost hurt to look at him, as if Meteora's eyes couldn't properly send signals to her brain to comprehend what she was looking at.

"What...what in…" She said, but she couldn't form any more words. She was too confused by this. Glossaryck was dead. Jenkins has told them so. After magic died, he died with it.

But magic wasn't really gone, was it?

'Was there a chance he was still alive?' She thought. 'If so, why didn't I know about him? Nobody else here even seems to notice him. The voice didn't say anything. What..what did… what the hell is going on?!'

But she received no answer. Everything was still frozen, and the voice was still absent. She carefully took a step towards Glossaryck, seeing if she would get a reaction. There was none.

She reached out to touch him. But the second her fingers came into contact, he seemed to spring to life. His head turned and he looked straight at her.

Meteora immediately jumped back out of fear, cursing widely..

Glossaryck then spoke. Or, at least, tried to speak. His words seemed broke and repeated, like a record.

"H-hey ki-kid. If you're he-hearing this-this-this mess-message, then-then-then-then-then-"

Glossaryck continued repeating the word "then" uncontrollably, while Meteora simply looked on with a mixture of fear, disbelief, and...several other unknown emotions.

But then he stopped, froze, and faded out of existence. A second later, it was like he never existed in the first place.

Meteora still didn't move, as she was more confused than she ever had been.

"_I'm back."_

"GAH!" She yelled out, nearly jumping out of her shoes at the voices sudden return.

"_Umm...sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. Are you okay? I can feel your heartbeat going a mile a minute."_

"Yeah." She said. "Yeah. I'm fine. Totally fine. No problems here. No problems at all. You Just startled me."

"_Right." _The voice said, sounding completely unconvinced.

"Where did you go anyways?" Meteora asked.

"_I was checking something. Nothing to worry about. It's been resolved."_

"What was it?"

"_Just a quick look into some of my memories. Making sure everything was in the right place."_

"The...right place?"

"_Of course."_ The voice said. "_Memories are like dreams. They're tricky things. Pieces of one memory may get jumbled in another, and soon the whole thing could fall apart if you aren't careful."_

"Oh. Well, that's great. Something else to worry about. Can you unfreeze this scene now?" Meteora asked.

The voice stopped for a second, taken aback by her odd behavior, but shrugged it off. The scene unfroze and everybody sprung back to life.

Everybody seemed to be having their own conversations, until Old Jenkins loudly cleared his throat and everybody quieted down, ready to start the meeting.

"So is Jenkins just the boss here?" Meteora asked.

"_You could say that. He's in complete control. The only reason the kingdoms stay standing is because of him. With the kingdoms spread across over the entire world, and with the many deaths and property damage, it took some convincing by Jenkins to the other world leaders to not attack immediately."_

"Okay, but Jenkins said that an army of 5,000 people were sent to Echo creek after the merge." Meteora said. "He seemed pretty ready to attack."

"_That was not him. It was actually the national guard. They were ready to attack. He appeared at the last moment."_

"What was he to the Earth world leaders?"

"_...The one that put them in their positions of power."_

Meteora was about to respond to this, but Old Jenkins started speaking. "Alright." He said. "Who's first?"

Almost instantly, Lord Brudo raised his hand, like a child asking permission to speak from a teacher.

"What is it Brudo?" Old Jenkins asked.

"Can I go?" He asked. "I was busy playing with my stickers."

Old Jenkins rubbed his eyes at this response. "Yeah." He said. "Yeah. You can leave. _Wouldn't be of much use anyway…" _He muttered.

Brudo smiled, got up from his chair, and left the room. Everybody watched him leave, wondering if they should do the same.

Old Jenkins seemed to read their minds. "Don't even think about it." He said. "I only let Brudo leave because he's useless. Now, does anyone else have anything to say?"

Queen Spiderbite stood up and started talking. "Yes. Since we are here to discuss the problems that we are having, I have several. First off, the giant spiders that occupy our lands are being exterminated by outside forces. I request that you stop this. Though they are beasts, they are part of my kingdom, and nobody does anything without my say. Secondly-"

"Actually." Old Jenkins said. "We're not here to discuss that. This meeting is not about personal problems. We've had plenty of those. This meeting is about what we're going to do about the riots involving the monsters."

Everybody in the room shifted, and several people glanced over at Eclipsa with contempt, blaming her for the situation, as per usual. It was almost a tradition at this point.

"I have an idea." The Queen Of the Waterkelp people said. "That merge spread Mewni across the entire Earth, yes? Well, why don't all the monsters just move to another place that's not the town?"

Several of the other monarchs nodded their heads in agreement. But everybody knew what this was. It was just a ploy to get rid of the monsters. Although the merge was spread across the entire world, most of the castles and kingdoms of Mewni were in Echo creek. The parts that had been spread across the world was mostly just land that had belonged to the kingdoms and were only slightly inhabited. But it had brought enough creatures and other monsters to cause a good deal of destruction.

This wasn't nothing but a way to get rid of the monsters and have them become someone else's problem.

And Eclipsa was having none of that.

"No." Eclipsa said. "The monster temple, a place that many monsters call home, is still in the town. We are not moving because we can't just move the temple."

"Are you sure?" King Ponyhead suddenly said. "I've seen some pretty insane Earth construction stuff. It might be possible to move the entire building-"

"Yeah, no." Old Jenkins said. "Not possible. It's too big. And even if we had a way to move it, that temple is old and fragile. Moving it could mean it crumbling to pieces along the way."

"So just take it apart stone by stone and then-"

"ENOUGH!" He yelled. The entire room fell so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

"You think I don't know what you people are doing?" He said. "The monsters are staying here. Your half-assed attempts at getting them to leave won't work. An imbecile could see it. Stop trying to get me to get them to leave, because I won't. Also because the only people here that don't hate monsters are the only ones that have ever done anything useful for Mewni."

All the monarchs seemed insulted by this, and were about to voice their opinions, but Old Jenkins continued.

"But the rest of you have done nothing at all. When the Solarians attacks the monster temple, you could have helped, but you stood by and did nothing. When Ludo took over the butterfly castle, you didn't help that time either. I'm almost getting the feeling that you want the butterfly's gone. Maybe something about them was bothering you? Or...someone." He glanced slightly at Star and Eclipsa.

"Are- are you saying that we didn't help the butterfly's on purpose because we were _threatened _by them?!" Queen Spiderbite said incredulously.

"No. I'm just insinuating it."

"Well- well we didn't! Why would we do something like that? Our own people suffered during the Meteora crisis!"

Old Jenkins put on a face that said "I'm just screwing with you" and continued talking. "You know what, just ignore that. But in the meantime, if any of you _do _make another anti-monster suggestion, then I will personally kick you out of this meeting. Now, any other suggestions or questions?"

"Yes." Globgor said. "What do the Earth leaders think of this?"

Old Jenkins made a "pft" sound and leaned back in his chair. "They don't care as long as everything from Mewni stays where it's supposed to. The only people that do care right now are scientists, biologists, and nerds."

"So they won't help us?" Globgor said.

"I'm afraid not."

"I have an idea." Eclipsa said. All eyes fell upon her. "Why don't we just...try and integrate the monsters with the Mewmans and humans? Show them that monsters aren't don't mean to hurt anybody."

"That might work." Old Jenkins said. "If they were willing to do so. But I feel like the Mewmans and humans would much rather attack than talk. That's why we're here after all. All the people in the town can't sort it out by themselves."

Star suddenly spoke up. "Well, me and Marco have been making some progress with this. All the Mewman and monster children don't seem to care about being different from one another. They seemed to be doing just fine. It's just all the adults."

"Well then." Old Jenkins said. "Then let's just wait until they die and let the young ones take over."

Unable to sense that it was sarcasm, Eclipsa responded. "Not when their parents might be telling their children that monsters are to be feared and hated."

Old Jenkins thought about this for a second, and then got up from his chair. "I need to do something. Star, Marco, Eclipsa, Globgor, and Moon, follow me." Old Jenkins walked out of the room, and after exchanging a confused glance, all five of them followed. Meteora quickly followed them as well and walked out the room with them. Once they had left the room, Old Jenkins closed the door.

"Finally." He said. "Not going back in there for a while."

"Wait." Marco said. "Did you just leave so you could take a break?"

"Yup."

"Why'd you'd bring us?" He asked.

"I felt you probably needed a break too. Besides, you five are the only ones I like. The only ones I respect."

"Oh. Thanks, I guess."

"Yeah. Do you guys know what to do? Let's have our own private meeting. A meeting where the attendees aren't a bunch of monster bigots. Nobody can hear us either. Soundproof room."

"I know what to do." Star said. "If we can somehow...just get everybody to see that they're all the same inside, then they might stop hating each other. I have just the solution to do this."

"What is it?" Moon asked.

"You know how-"

Everything suddenly went black. Everybody faded from existence, the area around them turned to darkness, and then it all disappeared.

"Hey!" Meteora said. "Did you do that? I want to know what she said!"

"_Oh, right." _The voice said. "_I forgot to tell you. This is the part where my vision cut out for some reason."_

"What are you talking about?"

"_This is the day you know. Everything bad happened on this day. First then mob, then the meeting. A few hours from now, the world will end."_

"Wait, seriously?" Meteora said in shock. "The end of the world happens today?"

"_It does. After this meeting, Star will gather everybody to go to that party, then the nukes will fly and everything will burn. It could not have happened at the worst possible time. The whole issue with monsters was never resolved before the end. Which means it still needs to be resolved. There are still those who hate monsters. Even in the apocalypse, people will stick to their opinions, no matter what."_

"Why couldn't you see anything?" Meteora asked. "I thought you could see whatever you wanted on Earthni."

"_I thought that as well. But for a few hours, I couldn't see anything. There was just darkness. Remember the place we go to right before I change the environment? That's what I was stuck in. Just an endless dark void. I thought for a second that I was going to be stuck there for the rest of my days. Luckily, my "vision" came back after a few hours. But…_

_It was gone. I was shown the new, broken, destructive world. There was almost nothing left. Everything I had planned for you, to help you later on in life and help_

_all the monsters of this world, were canceled. I searched for months looking for you. It took quite a while. For some reason, it seemed Jenkins was quite keen on traveling a lot with you and your sister early on. I don't know if he was looking for something, or if he was running from something. He was far away enough from the radiation, so I knew he couldn't be running from that."_

"Do you know how he got ahold of us?" Meteora asked. "Do you know why he has us, and not my mother or father or anybody else?"

"_No. That part was still obscured to me. Most important parts were. But as I was saying, eventually I caught up to you. And so I waited. 15 years I waited for the right period of time to talk to you, and I finally decided that I couldn't wait any longer, so I contacted you for the first time."_

"Of which I still can't remember." Meteora said. "But why was your vision blocked?"

"_I...will be honest with you here. I don't know. I don't know why I couldn't see anything. I didn't detect anything beforehand. I didn't see anything. I have no idea why._

_And that terrifies me."_

"Do...you have any ideas of what it _could _have been?" Meteora asked.

"_Maybe a few. An extremely large burst of magical energy would have done it, or something else magic related. But no one could have cast a spell that big, not with all the willpower in the world."_

"What about the nukes?"

"_Couldn't have been. They happened hours after I lost my sight. The particles created by those nukes couldn't have traveled through time or anything like that to take out my vision. _

_No. Whatever did this was not caused by those nukes. I don't think they actually would have the ability to do that."_

"What if it wasn't something, but somebody?" Meteora said.

"_How so?"_

"Well, earlier you told me about the five levels of being. You said you were a level three being. So what if a level four being messed with your vision to make you blind? What if there was something they didn't want you to see?"

"_A good theory. But sadly wrong. If it was a level 4 being, I would have sensed them long before they even manifested in this dimension. They give off a sort of...feeling. I wouldn't have actually been the only one to sense it. Even a level one being could sense them. They are surprisingly easy to detect, despite being gods. But then again, that's probably why they don't bother to do much in the first place. Too many people that will realize they exist."_

"So is that it?" Meteora asked. "People hated monsters, Star come up with ideas we couldn't see, the world ends, and it's all made pointless? That's it?!"

"_I understand your frustration. I experienced that as well. But there is still much to see before the apocalypse. I can also show you memories of you after the apocalypse."_

"Let's stick with before." Meteora said. "I don't have many good memories after the apocalypse. Actually, that's all the memories I had."

Meteora suddenly thought of something. Something that could be useful. If she found a way to make it so.

"Can you access my memories from my other lives?" She asked.

"_What are you talking about?"_

"This isn't my first life." She said. "I had others. The one where I was Ms. Heinous. And I think there may have been a second one that I don't remember? But can you do that?"

"_I would if I could. Those memories are locked away. Or gone entirely."_

"But you said you had complete access to my mind! That you could bring back any memory of mine!"

"_Can't bring back what's not longer there. Or if it is still there, than I don't have the power to do so."_

"Great. Another hope dashed. Just like all the others."

Meteora sat down on the ground. "Trying to talk to my mother could kill me if I'm not strong enough with magic, monsters and Mewmans and humans probably still hate each other-, no, actually, the ones in Dave's castle seemed to like each other. Why is that? What makes them uncaring toward each other?"

"_They realize there is no point in fighting each other. The world is destroyed. There is no point in conflict. Also, everybody there are the ones that didn't care about different species before the apocalypse."_

"Lucky them." Meteora said. "At least some people don't care. Unfortunately, they're probably going to die in the Underworld war anyways."

"_Don't think like that. If you can get better with magic, than this war could be over before it even begins."_

"It's already begun."

"_It's a metaphor. I meant that when the kingdoms see what you can do, they won't try to fight. They will know that they don't have any real weapons that can stop you. That tank that Drosid had was the only one of its kind. And you just blew it up. You can see why he was so eager to kill you."_

"I don't think he's going to give up that easily. Even with his army probably being less than twenty people after that battle, I could see that he's not going to give up until he kills me."

"_But don't you see? He's the key to getting them to stop."_

"I...feel like I won't like where this is going. What are you going to have me do?"

"_It's simple. You see, Drosid is one of the strongest demons in the Underworld. Although he may be small for a demonic, only a few can match him in sheer physical strength. The other Underworld kingdoms fear confronting him greatly. So all you need to do is kill him?"_

"Kill him?"

"_Yes. When he dies, the others will see that you are too strong for them to handle. They will surrender, the war will be over, and the people will be safe."_

"How am I supposed to kill one of the strongest demons in the Underworld, even with my magic? I feel like he's probably fast enough to get to me and kill me with his bare hands before I can get the chance to concentrate and cast a spell."

"_Not if you get your butterfly form. With that, you can fly, and he cannot. You can simply bombard him with your spells from above until he's dead. He won't have any way to reach you. And you'll be fast as well. Combined with your monster strength, You'll be able to fly faster than any user of the Butterfly form has before. Stronger as well. Possibly the strongest person in the entire dimension."_

"This all depends on whether I can get the butterfly form." Meteora said. "I still don't know if I can do that."

"_Only one way to find out: Keep trying."_

"I haven't tried yet. We've been busy casting a couple of spells and looking through memories."

"_Then why don't we start? I don't expect you to get it in the first try, or even the first ten. But eventually, it might work."_

"Then how? You said I needed an emotional event like that war to do it."

"_I know what I said. But magic can be flexible. I do know of one or two queens who did it simply by practicing it and eventually succeeding."_

"Then why didn't you mention them?"

"_Because...okay, I won't lie to you here, the odds that you'll get that form simply by practice is almost one in a million. Or a billion. Honestly, the best chance we have for it happening is for some event to happen while we practice magic. For instance, when you killed that monster back there you felt a small amount of it. I thought you were going to transform right there and then. Sadly, you didn't, but it was a start. It shows me what you react to. I think they way you could do it is by protecting others. You did that to protect Mariposa and Jenkins. If there's a situation like that again, then you could possibly transform to protect them."_

"So I should just wait until something tries to kill us? That's great."

"_I feel like that would be the best way for it to activate. But in the meantime, I think you should wake up. Practice some spells in the real world. We'll come back to these memories later."_

"Alright." Meteora said. "Bring me out."

The darkness vanished, replaced by a bright light. Meteora covered her eyes, and then opens them. She was back. Staring at the ceiling of the butterfly castle.

"Now what?" She asked.

"_Well."_

"_Let's see if we can improve your spell-casting."_

**End chapter 21**

**A/N: Few things here, few things there, all that. That Glossaryck thing will definitely appear again, but before you ask, no. He's dead. That will be explained later in this arc. Specifically at the end.**

**Thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	22. Chapter 22: Hammer time

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 22**

**Hammer time**

"How do I do this one?"

"_Like I told you. It's simple, you see. All you have to do is conce-"_

"Yes, yes. Concentrate. Always concentrating. You know, I've done this enough times that I know that I have to concentrate."

"_You asked, not me."_

It had been a week. A week since they had temporarily settled down in Echo creek so that Meteora could improve her spell casting.

Which was going...okay, to say the least.

"_Now," _The Voice said. "_Focus on it, imagine it, and try to do it."_

Meteora concentrated like she had done a million times before, and thought about the spell that the voice had told her to do. Well, it wasn't exactly a spell. Apparently it was a natural ability she had. She wondered why it hadn't told her about it sooner.

Unfortunately, now matter how hard she tried with this one, it didn't work. Another one to add to that already massive list.

"I can't do it." Meteora said. "I suppose "eye lasers" or whatever you called then are too much to ask for at the moment."

"_Not really lasers. It's an ability that allows you to steal souls."_

"I don't want to do that." Meteora said, clearly disliking the concept.

"_Well, It could still be useful. Although you are right. It is one of your most powerful abilities. It will take a long time to learn, let alone master."_

"Just like everything else?"

"_Just like everything else."_

Meteora sighed and started to climb down the building she was standing on. After the whole disaster with the truck and the monster which resulted in her nearly losing her ear, she didn't want to take any chances, and usually liked to be as high as possible when casting spells, especially ones like the one she just attempted to use.

"I'm think I'm done for now." She said. "I'm gonna go find Jenkins and Mariposa and...do something. I'm bored. I don't know."

"_Alright. Go find your compatriots. Do whatever."_

Meteora finished getting off the building by jumping the last few feet, and started walking towards their current "base" in Echo creek: A random, abandoned store that was in better condition than most buildings.

Meteora could already tell that Jenkins and Mariposa were starting to get sick of waiting, even though they had said they would wait. But that was to be expected. They didn't really have to do anything. The Voice's suggestion that Meteora used most of her powers when she was protecting someone hadn't been confirmed yet, as she hadn't needed to protect them from anything. It was just them. In the entire empty town.

She wondered how the Underworld war was going. After a week, it had to have started by now. Hopefully the Underworld wouldn't be destroyed by the time the Voice said she was ready to go. Which would probably be after she got her Butterfly form. Also after she did something of her own. She still hadn't gotten the chance to talk to her mother with the communication spell, assuming that she could do it at all. But at the current moment, the Butterfly form wasn't even her endgame, the spell was.

Meteora arrived back at the store they had taken refuge in, and walked in. Both of her "compatriots" were in there, doing nothing. Mariposa was staring at a wall, half-asleep in a way that shouldn't have been possible, and Jenkins appeared to be studying the walls and ceiling of the building.

"I'm back." Meteora said.

Jenkins turned around, while Mariposa stayed in her zombie-like stupor. "Ah. Good." He said. "Did you manage to-"

Instinctively knowing what the question was going to be, Meteora interrupted him.

"Nope." She said. "I still don't have my Butterfly form. I told you I think it only happens when I'm protecting someone, and...I haven't really needed to protect you guys lately."

"That's not really a bad thing. Why would anybody want to be attacked? I mean, I know it might give you that form, but I'd rather not kill any more people than I already have." Jenkins said, remembering the dozens of bodies they've left behind them.

"Good point." Meteora said. "Although I wonder who would attack us. I doubt that many people will come to this town because they might think it's still contaminated by radiation."

"If we're going to get attacked, I'm not worried about survivors. We take them pretty easily, especially now that you can cast...some spells."

"I am not doing to a random person ever again what I did to that monster." Meteora said. "That was practically an accident. I didn't even know what I was doing at the time."

"I know, I know. But as I was saying, they're not the ones I'm worried about."

"Then who are you worried about?" Meteora asked.

"We've made several enemies in the past week." Jenkins said. "Janna and her black priests still want to kill us, no doubt, so we'll have to watch out for them. Not to mention the armies of the Underworld and Drosid, along with the rulers of the other Underworld kingdoms that hate anyone who isn't a demon. In just one week, we've made enemies with two extremely dangerous people who have armies behind them ready to obey them."

"Do you think either one of them will actively try and find us to kill us?"

"Probably." Jenkins asked. "Why do you think I've told you guys watch the portal? It's because I'm worried that Drosid is gonna send a bunch of his demons through to kill us."

"I doubt that's gonna happen." Meteora said. "Yes, he wants to kill us. Especially me. But he has his own problems right now. Even if he knows we left, then he's not going to send someone after us to kill us, because he probably thinks we're leaving for good. He's in the middle of a war, and with his forces severely depleted after what happened at the Lucitor castle, he's not going to have time to worry about us."

Suddenly, a huge cracking sound was heard in the distance, as if someone or something was just smashed to smithereens. Mariposa came back to the waking world and all of them stared at the buildings entrance.

"...What the hell was that?" Mariposa asked.

"Only one way to find out." Jenkins said, but then muttered, "But I really don't want to find out."

All three of them left the building and looked around. There was nothing around that indicated where the noise came from, so they started searching. Still nothing.

But then, when they reached the forest of certain death, there was a figure standing in front of it.

Jenkins eyes widened, and Meteora and Mariposa's heartbeats doubled. They had seen someone like this before.

It was one of Drosid's resemblances to the ones that they had seen in the Underworld was uncanny. Carrying a giant hammer and covered in armor, standing next to a tree that had been smashed to pieces, no doubt the source of the cracking noise. It was slightly smaller than some of the other demons, but it was still big enough that it could kill all of them easily.

The demon spotted them and growled, but didn't approach.

Nobody moved.

"You two." Jenkins whispered, the seriousness in his voice now kicked up to 100. "Go back to that store, and grab the packs."

"You're not planning on taking that thing on by yourself, are you?!" Mariposa asked, shocked. "It'll smash you to pieces!"

"I don't plan to take it down head-on." Jenkins said. "Trust me on this one."

"Wait." Meteora said. "Maybe you don't have to fight at all. I can use my spells to kill it. I'm sure I'm strong enough now with magic that I can do it."

"NO." Jenkins said. "Don't. I want him alive. I know a way we can incapacitate him, but not kill him. Just go. Before he charges at us."

Right on schedule, the demon did just that, raising the hammer above his head and running towards them, each footstep making a noticeable indent in the ground.

"GO!" Jenkins yelled.

Both Meteora and Mariposa ran off towards the building with their supplies in it as fast as they could, not bothering to look back.

"I really hope he knows what he's doing!" Meteora said.

"_As do I." _The Voice said. "_If that demon kills you now because Jenkins won't let you use your magic, then it was pretty much worthless. Also, nice job jinxing us. That thing literally appeared right after you said Drosid won't send any demons after us."_

"Not the time for jokes!" Meteora said, resulting in a confused look from Mariposa.

"_Not supposed to be one." _

Both of them sprinted the rest of the way there and burst into the store, quickly grabbed all three packs, then ran back out. They heard a stomping sound coming down the street and looked to the left.

It was a full on chase. Jenkins was running as fast as he could from the demon, who was swinging its hammer widely in an attempt to kill him, with its footsteps cracking the asphalt as it stepped on it.

"Get away!" Jenkins yelled. "Get away from the store!"

Still wondering what he was up too, but having no opportunity to ask, both Meteora and Mariposa ran away from the store. Jenkins ran into the store and the demon quickly followed him, smashing the doorway as it did so.

Both Meteora and Mariposa peeked into the store. Jenkins was moving widely, dodging the demons hammer swings as it destroyed the walls and everything else in sight.

"What is he doing?!" Mariposa said. "This is his plan!? Run around and hope he doesn't get hit?!"

Meteora was about to agree with her, but then she heard another cracking sound. The building, already slightly structurally weakened from the bomb hitting fifteen years ago, just couldn't take the damage being done to it. Meteora could see the walls and ceiling starting to crumble as the demon continued swinging it's hammer.

"It is his plan." Meteora said. "I think it's gonna work."

Finally, the ceiling started to give way. The roof tiles fell, and upon seeing his plan come to his final goal, Jenkins ran past the demon and out of the store. The demon, too slow to see what was happening, only then realized it's mistake.

A second later, the roof collapsed entirely in an explosion of dust and debris, crushing the inside and burying the demon under a ton of rubble.

Once the dust cleared, the three looked at the building, unsure of what to think about what just happened.

"Well." Meteora said. "That was fas-"

Another explosion of dust interrupted her word as the demon practically shot through the pile of rubble covering it, hammer still in its hand. It roared in anger, outraged to have been tricked, and looked at the three with more hate than anything had the right to have. It jumped out of the rubble and lifted its hammer towards them.

Jenkins, Meteora, and Mariposa, suddenly overcome by what could only be described as a completely animal sense of fear, dropped their packs and ran in three different directions. The demon took a moment to watch them run, then ran towards Mariposa as if it was personal.

She dove into a nearby alleyway In an attempt to hide, but the demon was too fast to have missed her, and entered the same alleyway and swung its hammer at her head.

Mariposa ducked, with the hammer just barely missing hitting her, instead smashing into the brick wall behind her. She dropped to the ground and slid under the demons legs, then kept running into the street. The demon pulled its hammer out of the wall and followed her.

She didn't think. She didn't stop. She just kept running, hoping that Jenkins or Meteora would appear and save her. But hope as she may, they didn't appear. She decided that if they couldn't help, then she would have to try and kill the demon herself, never minding Jenkins wanting to keep him alive for whatever reason.

Running back to the remains of the store, with the demon nearly on her heels, she grabbed one of the packs that she had dropped, opened it faster than what seemed humanly possible, and grabbed one of the knives that were inside.

The demon was right behind her, and she quickly rolled to the side, just missing the hammer coming down on the ground, and continued running.

Just like Jenkins had done earlier, Mariposa kept running and dodging the hammer. Although one hit would be more than enough to kill her, the demon was too slow attacking to be able to land a hit.

"Come on." Mariposa growled. "Give me an opening."

A couple of swings later, the demon finally lifted the hammer in the air and struck downwards. But like she had already done several times before, Mariposa lept to the side and avoided the attack. The hammer crashed into the ground, creating cracks in the road for several feet around it.

Mariposa didn't pass up the opportunity. Gripping the edge as tightly as she could, she leapt onto the top of the hammer and used it as a jumping pad, launching herself towards the demon. With both hands on its weapon, it had no way to defend itself.

Still in the air, she quickly thrust the knife towards the demons armored covered face as hard as she could. But instead of piercing its armor and going straight through its eye, the knife simply broke on the armor as if it were made of plastic.

The demon didn't take this attempt on its life easily. Taking one of its hands off the hammer, it grabbed Mariposa by the throat and threw her to the ground.

Mariposa rubbed her head at the impact, and her eyes came into focus just long enough that she could see the demon once again raising the hammer over its head

Mariposa saw her life flash before her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Shit."

The demon roared and prepare to strike, and Mariposa readies herself for the end. But it never came. A gigantic stone struck the back of the demons helmet, shattering on impact. The demon stopped and turned around.

Jenkins was there, several stones in his hand, looking ready to take on the world with his rock arsenal.

"HEY ASSHOLE!" He yelled. "I'M THE ONE THAT DROPPED THAT BUILDING ON YOU! COME AND GET YOU DEMONIC SHIT!"

The demon, now full of newfound rage at these words, ignored Mariposa and headed straight for Jenkins, who continued to throw stones at the demon, to little effect.

'What is he doing?' Mariposa thought. Then she saw it. The demons helmet view obscured its vision, and it didn't see the thing to its right.

A large green light started emanating from an alleyway, as the demon passed it, Jenkins yelled "NOW METEORA!"

The demon looked to the side and realized it had been tricked yet again. Meteora was there, her arm glowing green, ready to attack.

She didn't hesitate. She thrust her arm forward, and a bolt of white and green magic shot out and slammed into the demon, cashing an explosion of green light that temporarily blinded everyone.

Once Jenkins eyes stopped flashing green spots, he peeked to see if it had been successful. He didn't care about capturing it alive right now. Not as much as he wanted to kill it.

The small dust cloud cleared, and everybody held their breath.

The demon burst out, no damage visible, and went straight for Meteora. Before she could react, it punched her in the stomach with its armored fist, causing her to drop to the ground.

"NO!" Jenkins yelled. With no care for his own life, he clutched one of the rocks and ran towards the demon. Mariposa also ran towards the demon, not even sure what she was doing.

Seeing the two humans running towards them, the demon dropped its hammer and decided it would be more fun to kill them with its bare hands.

Jenkins attempted to smash the demon in the face with a rock, but it pushed him to the ground effortlessly and put its foot on his chest, ready to crush him.

Mariposa, on the other hand, didn't even know what she was doing when she ran up, and the demon grabbed her head with its right hand and lifted her into the air.

Mariposa attempted to fight out of its grip, but the demon didn't even notice, and began to squeeze her head.

Meteora, still in pain on the ground, couldn't even move.

"_Get up!" _The Voice yelled. "_Get the hell up!"_

"I...can't." Meteora groaned. "I feel like my stomach exploded."

"_Is that so? Well, look up."_

Meteora did so and saw the predicament. Jenkins was still in the ground, the demons foot feeling like a hundred pound weight on his chest, while Mariposa's head was still in its grip, with the demon slowly enjoying her suffering.

"_You see?" _The Voice said. "_You have to do something. Right now."_

"Magic didn't work!" Meteora attempted to yell, but it came out as more of a whimper.

"_Then use something else."_

"What are you-" Then her eyes fell upon it. The hammer. The demon had dropped it in order to enjoy killing them more. But could she even lift it? It looked like it weighed as much as she did. But she looked up at Mariposa and Jenkins. They were helpless right now. She had to protect them.

A sudden familiar feeling came over her. The same feeling that she had gotten back when she killed the monster who had attacked them. Ignoring the immense pain from her stomach, Meteora got up off the ground and walked towards the hammer. The demon was too preoccupied with Mariposa to even notice her.

Meteora grabbed the hammer and lifted it as if it weighed nothing, and tapped the demon on the shoulder with the hammer to get it attention.

The demon turned around and before it's eyes even had a chance to register Meteora, she swung the hammer and slammed it into the side of the demons head.

Although it's helmet absorbed most of the impact, it was still enough. The demon let go of Mariposa and flew into the side of a building, unconscious in an instant. It stumbled and fell to the ground, out-cold.

Meteora looked at the demon and then casually threw the hammer over her shoulder, where it smashed into the ground.

Jenkins, realizing that Meteora was probably not...herself anymore. Slowly got up off the ground and cautiously took a step towards her.

"Meteora…" He said wearily. "You're okay, right?"

Meteora looked and Jenkins and snapped out of her trance, and the pain in her stomach returned, and a new pain coming from her arms appeared. She dropped to the ground again, in agony.

"No." She said, the pain in her voice obvious. "I feel like my chest is on fire."

"Alright." Jenkins said, walking over to Meteora and literally scooping her up off the ground.

"What are you doing?" She said, not in the mood to be carried.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm carrying you. If you can't walk, then this is how we're doing it. Also, we have to find a new place to stay now that our old one is...destroyed."

"Fine. Whatever."

"Good. Mariposa, gather our packs. Also, take off that demons helmet. If he wakes up, kill him with one of the knives. I'm going to try to find something to restrain him with."

Mariposa nodded and pulled (albeit with difficulty) the demons helmet off his head. He looked like a mix between a cow and a lion, and was frankly unpleasant to look at.

Jenkins continued walking with Meteora until he found a building that was suitable enough. It looked like an old food stand, with a faded "B" still noticeable in what was once it's sign. Jenkins walked in and set Meteora on the ground.

"Okay. Stay here and rest. If your chest doesn't get better, you tell me. I just hope there wasn't any permanent damage."

"I think I'm getting better…" Meteora squeaked out. "Doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"Excellent. I'm going to go and find some chains or something similar to restrain that demon with, hopefully he speaks english and we can get some information out of him."

Meteora nodded and set her head on the floor, and Jenkins left.

"This still hurts so damn much." She said to herself.

"_Don't worry. There was no permanent damage, like Jenkins hoped. Trust me."_

"Oh right." Meteora said. "You're here. Or there. Or something. Still felt like a truck hitting me."

"_You're more durable than you think. You just got the wind knocked out of you. Most people can't take that. I'm impressed you're still talking right now at all."_

"Thanks, but that doesn't make it better."

"_I know. Now, we should be thinking about our next move. That demon showed that Drosid knows that we want to the surface, and that he's trying to kill us. We now have to be on guard at all times."_

"Why was it only one though?" Meteora asked. "Drosid saw what I did to that tank. Why would he only send one?"

"_I mean, we saw that magic didn't really work against it…"_

"Yeah, what was up with that? Why didn't the spell work? Was the armor just extremely durable, or was there something else at play?"

"_Something else was at play. That spell should have melted that armor like soft cheese in a microwave. Yet it didn't do anything at all. I am just as confused as you are by that."_

"Well, then maybe Jenkins can ask that demon once he starts to interrogate him. But I don't see how they're gonna move him."

"_I'm sure they'll figure something out…"_

**Meanwhile…**

While Meteora and the Voice were busy having a conversation, Jenkins nd Mariposa were busy trying to figure out a way to move the demon.

After trying to lift him, push him, and just plain drag him, all of which didn't work, they had ran out of ideas.

"This is bad." Jenkins said. "If we can't move this guy, then we can't restrain him, and then we can't interrogate him for information. Plus, if he wakes up, and we don't have a plan, we're screwed."

Mariposa looked around them and tried to find a solution. Then her eyes fell on something. The demons giant hammer. A few feet away from them. Right where Meteora had left it.

"Maybe we can use that?" She suggested, pointing at the hammer.

Jenkins looked at Mariposa, then at the hammer, then back at Mariposa. "You're kidding, right?" He said. "First off, we can't lift it. It weighs more than either of us. I don't even know how Meteora managed to life that damn thing. Secondly, how would be even use that to restrain him? Put it on his chest? Cover his legs? Or maybe-"

Jenkins stopped mid-sentence and looked back at the hammer, starting to get what Mariposa was hinting at.

"Ohhh." He said. "We'll only have one shot though."

"As long as he can't get up, then it'll be enough." Mariposa said.

Both of them grabbed the edge of the hammer and slowly dragged it towards the demon, one inch at a time. With it being made of solid metal, and a very dense metal at that, progress was slow.

"Come on!" Jenkins said, his muscles straining. "Just a little more…"

Finally, they reached right next to the demons right leg. Preparing themselves, they both took a deep breath and grabbed a side of the hammer.

"One." Jenkins said.

"Two." Mariposa said.

"Three." They lifted it as hard as they could, managing to get it a bit off the ground.

Mariposa struggled to keep her grip. It felt like her muscles were tearing, which they very much might have been.

"Move it to the side!" Jenkins said. "To the side! To the side!"

Both of them moved it slightly above the demons leg, until it was directly above it.

"As hard as you can!" Jenkins said. "Lift!"

Together, the hammer was lifted another foot off the ground, until it felt like their arms were about to fall off.

"Now let go of it!" Jenkins said.

Without skipping a beat, both of them let go and the hammer slammed into the demons leg, smashing through the armor life soft cheese and crushing its leg directly on the kneecap.

The demon was awake in an instance, yelling in pain at it's leg being squashed. Jenkins and Mariposa lept away from the demon to avoid getting caught by it.

The demon continued to yell in pain before it spotted them both, at which point it yelled in an extremely deep and gruff voice, "What did you do you me you little bastards?!"

Jenkins looked down at him with pity and responded in the most casual voice he could muster. "We crippled you. So you couldn't escape."

He then pulled out one of Dave's knives.

"We also removed your helmet so we can kill you if necessary. If you try to resist, I'll go get Meteora to blast your head off."

The demon, despite the immense pain in its leg, laughed at this statement. "That little magic girl?" It said with amusement. "She's going to die you know. I'm just the beginning. My leader Drosid has plans for her. None of you will survive. Not with his new allies."

"That's great." Mariposa. "Now we want to ask you some questions, or we're going to kill you. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like this is the first time you've done this." The demon said. "You think I fear death? I was raised to accept, not fear it. I have a great reward waiting for me when I die. Covered in blood, even my own, is a great honor."

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Jenkins said. "Drosid's demons are also cultists who believe in riding into Valhalla, bloody and chrome. Well, you can go tell Immortan Dro that he can go screw himself."

"What...are you talking about?" The demon asked, confusing suddenly sparking in its mind.

Jenkins sighed. "It's from a movie. You wouldn't get it. But that doesn't matter. Listen, I don't care if you don't fear death. You can either talk, or I can torture the information out of you. Every living being fears pain, even literal demons from hell."

The demon blinked at this statement, obviously unimpressed.

"Torture?" It said. "Torture me all you want. I have been tortured before. I can handle whatever you throw at me. Besides, just by looking at you two I can tell that you're not the kind to torture.

Jenkins sighed. This was true. He hadn't ever tortured someone. He never wanted to torture. Even with all the people he killed, he had his limits.

"Go ahead." The demon said. "Kill me. Take you knife and stick it in my skull. End my life."

"So…you're not going to tell us anything?" Mariposa asked.

"Never." The demon responded.

"No matter what?"

"Correct." It said, giving her a toothy smile.

"Alright then." She rushed forward with her knife and shoved into the demons eye, killing him instantly and causing his movements to go limp.

Jenkins, genuinely surprised by this, spoke up.

"Why…?"

"He's useless." Mariposa said. "He was useless to us. He was never going to help, and we couldn't just let him live. Others might come, and we can't worry about this guy."

"...My god, I'm afraid of what your parents are going to say when they see what I've turned you into."

Mariposa chuckled. "Can't wait for that. Let's go check on Meteora. I doubt she's doing very well."

With that, both of them left the dead demons body behind in the alleyway, heading towards Meteora.

**A short distance away…**

Janna put down her binoculars upon seeing Jenkins and Mariposa leave and handed it to one of her subordinates.

"Perfect." She said. "Just like he said, they're right there in the town. Now all we have to do is follow orders."

One of her lackeys spoke up.

"Are you sure? I don't feel like this person always has our best interests."

Janna looked over at him. "You dare doubt his word?" She said. "After he has so generously shared his power?"

The lackey put his hand against his chest. "No. Definitely not. Sorry."

Janna scoffed at this and continued watching. "Then go get the others ready. It's time for phase two."

**End chapter 22**

**A/N: Quite and ending. Janna's back after a dozen or so chapters, and she seems to be working for someone. Or something. All will be revealed eventually.**

**Also, I don't know when the next chapter will be released. I know it's a very long time between chapter waits, and I'm sorry for that, but stuff with my other FanFiction and school stuff is taking its toll, so I hadn't had as much time to write. Hope everyone can understand.**

**But as usual, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	23. Chapter 23: Flight of the Butterfly

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 23**

**Flight of the Butterfly**

Jenkins and Mariposa walked through the streets of the ruined town back towards Meteora, with Jenkins hoping that she was still where he left her.

"How many more do you think are going to come?" Mariposa asked.

Jenkins looked over at her. "Sorry, what?"

Mariposa sighed. "I mean, how many more demons do you think we're going to have to fight? That demon did say that it was just the beginning. Even though Meteora blew up a huge chunk of it, it looks like Drosid still has plenty of demons to throw at us."

"Don't be so sure." Jenkins said. "It could have just been a lie. Drosid might have told that demon to say that, so that we would get scared."

"But what if Drosid _does_ have plenty more demons to throw at us?" Mariposa asked.

Jenkins looked away. "Then we'll do what we planned to do in this dumb war. Fight until we die."

"That's basically every day ever."

"Yup."

They kept walking and made it back to the building where Jenkins had left Meteora, and thankfully she was still inside, lying on the floor.

"How are you feeling?" Jenkins asked, looking down at her.

"Terrible." Meteora answered. "But alive. I think I'm able to stand up."

"Good. Because soon, you might have too." Jenkins said.

Meteora sighed. "I'd asked "what are you talking about," but I think I already know the answer to what you're talking about."

"That's right." Jenkins said. "Drosid will probably send more demons soon. This first one was likely just an appetizer. More will come. Likely more than one at a time. We have to be ready for them if we're going to stay in Echo creek."

"So we have to come up with a plan." Mariposa chimed in. "A good one. That last demon was way too close. I almost got crushed. I don't imagine that would be fun."

"Eh, but it would be quick." Jenkins said. "But you're right. We need to figure something out. If Meteora's spells can't break its armor, and dropping a building on it doesn't work, then we have to get something stronger."

"How can we get stronger then my spells or dropping a building on it?" Meteora asked.

"Drop a bigger building on it?" Mariposa suggested.

Meteora was about to make some sarcastic response to this, but something that had come up earlier came to her mind.

"Wait…" She said. "Spells…armor...I just remembered something."

"What is it?" Jenkins asked.

"Um, I'm gonna have to talk with the Voice. It said something earlier that I feel could be important."

Jenkins looked away. "Right. That thing. Okay. I'm going to go scout out the area. See if there's anything we could use. Any giant buildings that look weakened enough to collapse. Meteora, you stay here and chat, Mariposa, you can come if you want."

Jenkins then walked away down the street, leaving the pack he was lying on the ground. Mariposa looked from Jenkins, to Meteora, and then back to Jenkins.

"Well, I'm not doing anything else, so you have fun Meteora." She then walked away and followed Jenkins.

Meteora watched them leave. She then stared at the ceiling and cleared her throat.

"Hey! You in there!" She said. "We need to talk."

"_Their plans not going to work." _The Voice said, quickly sidetracking the conversation before it even began.

"What plan? Do you mean the whole pushing a building on top of them?"

"_Yes. Any building big enough to crush or otherwise permanently trap Drosid's demons are too large for them alone to collapse, structurally weakened as they may be."_

"Yeah, that's great, but I don't really care about that. I want to talk about something else."

"_Which is…"_

"You said earlier, after I asked why my spell didn't work, that "something else was at play." What did you mean by that? What's causing the armor to be immune to my spells."

"_Well, I also said "I'm just as confused as you are." The truth is, I really don't know. I suppose they could have cast a spell of their own to make the armor immune to magic, but I don't know who in the Underworld would have the magical ability to do that. Making something immune to magic, especially magic like the type you used against that demon, is much harder than it looks. I don't even think you would be able to do it."_

"Well, If it's any consolation, I don't really know any magic users either. Nobody except...except...oh shit."

"_What's wrong?" _The Voice asked, now slightly concerned.

"Janna." Meteora said. "She has magic. I haven't seen her in such a long time...wait, no, it's been less than a week. It hasn't been long at all. But so much had been has been happening recently that I almost forgot about her! She has magic. Pretty powerful magic too, I think.

She might have cast a spell to make that armor immune to magic."

"_Why would she do that?" _The Voice asked. "_Does she even know about the Underworld? In her eyes, they could be seen as the enemy. She sees everybody that isn't part of her posse as an enemy. Not to mention they would definitely see her as an enemy. They hate everybody that's not a demon. They would not side with Janna."_

"Maybe they don't know." Meteora said. "Maybe Janna cast that spell, and they didn't know. Like some kind of long-distance spell. So it would be easier for them to kill us."

"_There's a lot of things wrong with that theory." _The Voice said. "_One, they would somehow have to know that the armor was immune to magic in the first place before sending that demon after you. I don't imagine that Janna has the power to make all of the demons armor immune to magic. Two, even if she could somehow do that, she would still have too, as you call it, make a "long-distance spell." The amount of energy needed to cast a spell like that from so far away would be astronomical. It would kill her, no matter how powerful she was in magic. Finally, if she did do that, then she also knows we went to the Underworld. Which means she had been watching us. Which means she knew where we were. Although she was much different in the past, the current Janna would not let somebody else do the work for her. Not after you escaped from her like that. She likely holds a personal grudge now. If she knows where we are, then she would already be here, trust me."_

Meteora didn't speak. The Voice made a lot of good points.

"_But…" _It continued. "_You are right to be cautious of her. As is Jenkins and Mariposa. I have a feeling that she will show herself again soon. Whether a direct attack or something else entirely, I don't know. But we can't take any chances."_

"What made her do all this anyway?" Meteora asked. "I know she used to babysit us, and now she's trying to kill us. I know fifteen years can change people, but this is honestly kind of ridiculous. Why would she act like that at all?"

"_I have a theory you know…"_

"What is it?"

"_I don't think that's really Janna. Merely someone pretending to act like her. So that they could gain your trust before trying to kill you."_

Meteora leaned up off the floor. "If that was true, then why wouldn't they show their true as they tried to kill us? After they had revealed their true intentions, I wouldn't see any point in trying to hide it."

"_Perhaps she, or he, still wants you to believe that they are Janna. Or maybe they just love a big reveal, and are waiting for the right moment."_

"Yeah. We'll see about that." Meteora said, slowly standing up.

"Now," She said. "I'm feeling a little. My stomach still hurts, but definitely not as much as it did before, so I think we should get something done."

"_What did you have in mind?" _The Voice asked her.

"Well, we could go help Jenkins and Mariposa find another way to kill that demon, or we try practicing my spells more."

"_Let's go with the latter. There is a particular spell that I wanna you try out."_

"Okay. Fine. The second option. I'll go tell the others what we're doing, and then we go to a high place to try it out."

Meteora then walked out of the building and went looking for Jenkins and Mariposa, hoping that they hadn't been attacked by another demon in the meantime.

**Meanwhile…**

"You're crazy. Exactly how would we be able to even move it an inch, much less topple it completely?"

"It's already a mess. All it needs is a little...push."

Jenkins and Mariposa were looking up at the ruins of the butterfly castle. While busy trying to find buildings hat looked weak about to collapse, Jenkins had suggested that they could somehow push the castle over, which Mariposa was completely against.

"I said it before, I'll say it again." She said. "There is no way in a million days that we could make that thing collapse fast enough to crush any demons that would be chasing us. Not to mention the fact that because it's so big, that odds that we would get crushed along with the demons are...very, very high."

"We don't even need to be near it." Jenkins said. "We have Meteora. We have her spell casting. We could just have her cast a spell, crumble the base of the castle, and then it'll just fall over. Not even the strongest demons would be able to survive that."

"I still think it's a terrible idea." Mariposa said.

"Say what you want, but until we figure out another option, this is the one I'm going with. Because I don't have any other ideas."

"Hey guys." A voice from behind them said. "What are you doing?"

Both of them turned around to see Meteora walking up to them, staring up at the castle as well.

"Oh, Jenkins is just coming up with terrible plans." Mariposa said. "He thinks it's a good idea to push the butterfly castle over on any demons that try to attack us, and I think it's terrible. And the kicker? He wants you to be the one to knock it over. With your magic and all."

"I see…" Meteora said. "Would that actually work though?"

"Totally." Jenkins said. "That would crush anything."

Meteora continued to stare at the castle, wondering if what he was saying was true.

"I mean, I don't think it's that bad of a plan. The castle already looks really weak. I could probably make it collapse with just a few spells."

"No no no!" Mariposa said frantically. "Don't tell me you're actually agreeing with this plan."

"Hey." Meteora said. "With that armor being resistant to my magic, and the demons possibly coming back in greater numbers, we're going to have to think of some pretty crazy solutions."

Mariposa groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Ugh. Fine. If you guys say so. But don't blame when I berate in the afterlife for being stupid."

"We'll see." Jenkins said, before turning to Meteora. "Why are you here? I thought you were recovering from that stomach punch."

"I feel a lot better now." Meteora said. "So I thought I should do something. I came to tell you that I'm going to go off and try some more spells. So you don't have to worry about why I disappeared."

Jenkins started at her for a moment. "Can we watch you?" He asked.

"What?" Meteora asked.

"Can we watch you." He repeated. "I know it may sound odd, but I'm bored, and this castle is what I got for a plan, so I'd like something to entertain me. Because I'm sure it's actually possible to be bored to death."

"Ummm…"

"_If you're fine with, then I don't see anything wrong with it."_ The Voice said. "_In fact, I would encourage it. Having other people watching you would put pressure on you, and the. you would likely want to succeed even more."_

"I'm not sure if that's how that works." Meteora said to the Voice. "But okay." She turned towards Jenkins and Mariposa.

"Yeah. You can watch me. It's probably going to be slightly boring though. Most of the time I just try spells and fail at them, and the few times they _do _work, they're not what you could call...spectacular."

"Don't care." Jenkins. "However boring your spell casting is, it's going to be more interesting than anything going on down here."

"If you say so." Meteora said. "Mari, do you want to come?"

"Sure." Mariposa said. "Got nothing better to do. Unless you guys want me to keep berating you on your castle plan."

"Good". Meteora. "Follow me to...hmm. One second. Where should we go this time?"

"_Somewhere very high." _The Voice said. "_The spell that I want you to try out will require it. I'd like you to completely know your surroundings before you try it."_

"It's another "explosive" one, isn't it?" Meteora asked.

"_Yup."_

"Well, then are we waiting for? I know just the place for a spell like that. Seen it a few times before, but I felt like it was a bit overkill."

"Why?" Mariposa asked.

Meteora shrugged. "You'll see. Now follow me if we're going."

All three of them set off, with Meteora leading and the other two following close behind her, eventually coming to the base of a large stone spire/mountain.

"Oh yeah." Jenkins said. "This is here. I always wondered what this thing was for. Even in the days before the apocalypse, it just seemed like some sort of weird stone spire that just happened to exist. Nobody mentioned it, and nobody cared."

Meteora looked up at it. "Maybe it was a-"

"_A large stone spire, of which there was no purpose to. Basically just a touristy thing."_

"...A touristy thing?" Meteora finished.

Jenkins stared at her.

"I don't know where you learned the definition of "touristy" but I honestly don't think it's important."

He pointed to a path. "I assume that's the way up, so let's keep going."

All three of them headed towards the path and started walking up it, staying as close to the edge of the spire as possible.

"Okay, this is actually pretty unsafe." Meteora said. She was, of course, correct. If there had ever been any kind of guard railing stopping people from falling off the spire, it was long gone, and the only thing protecting them from a fatal drop was a few feet of stone path.

But it did not come without its benefits. Meteora could see for miles around. Sure, it was mostly just a destroyed town and forest, and then a wasteland beyond that, but it was still something special to see. Something very few people would ever see again.

The farther they got up the path, the harder it got. It really needed some maintenance. Or maybe one of those bar things people out on the sides of cliffs to prevent morons from falling off.

Then finally, after another half hour of walking, they made it to the top.

Even more so than before, the view was something else entirely. Hundreds and hundreds of feet in the air, higher than she had ever been before, Meteora felt like she could see all of Earthni before her. It was like seeing a sunrise, or sunset, for the first time in her life.

"Wow." Jenkins said, under the same spell as Meteora. "That's something to see."

"No kidding…" Mariposa said, darting over the horizon, her eyes full of stars at the sight.

They all continued staring. For how long? A minute? An hour? A day? All of them seemed to recognize that this was something they should simply take in, without thinking of anything else.

Jenkins suddenly spoke up, breaking Meteora and Mariposa out of their stupor.

"Well, you should probably get to your spell casting Meteora. As beautiful as this sight is, I'm sure we'll have another opportunity to see it again."

"Ehh...I wouldn't be so sure about that." A sudden voice said from behind them.

All three of them froze. They had heard that voice before. They knew exactly who it belonged to. None of them wished it to be true, but deep in their hearts, they knew it was. Jenkins inhaled through his clenched teeth and turned around to see several people standing there.

"Janna." He said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Yes. Me." Janna said, surrounded by several of her black priests.

Jenkins took a step towards her, as calmly as he could muster, although inside he was well and truly afraid.

"So," He said. "What do you want? Why are you here? We're kind of enjoy this view at the moment, so you might have to come back later."

"Funny." Janna said. "But you know what I'm here for. Hmm, well actually, you don't. You must think I'm here to kill you. I'm not. Not yet all least. I have my orders."

"Orders?" Jenkins said, his tone a mix of curiosity and confusion. "You take orders from somebody?"

"Yup. Can't really give away all the details, but let's just say that they've been keeping their eyes on you for a very long time."

Jenkins scowled, and Mariposa stepped in and joined the conversation.

"How did you find us?" She asked. "Have you been watching us?"

"Oh yeah." Janna said. "With scouts, spells, and even doing it myself. Did you guys really think that I would just let you go?"

"No." Jenkins said. "We didn't. We knew you were still after us. Especially with that thing you did with the mountain. Trying to turn our fears or whatever against us. News flash: It didn't work."

"Ah, Yes. The mountain spell. That was a fun one, wasn't it? Don't worry, I wasn't trying to kill you there. Not that the spell could really kill you anyways. Or maybe it could. I want exactly sure on the ramifications of that."

"That's great. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to-"

"What are you gonna do?" Janna asked, before raising her arm up and pointing it at them. "You know what I can do. You know what will happen."

She then looked at Meteora. "Don't you try anything either. I know you can use magic now, but trust me, I'm faster."

Meteora gulped, unsure of what to do.

"What do we do…" She whispered.

"_I'm not sure. Give me a second to think. This...may not end well."_

"Okay." Janna said. "Time to cut the crap." She pointed at Jenkins and Mariposa. "You two are coming with me."

She looked at Meteora. "But you...you're staying here."

"What?" Meteora asked. "Why?"

Janna shrugged. "Orders are orders."

"Like hell." Jenkins said, stepping in front of Meteora and Mariposa. "I don't care if you have magic, I'm not letting you anywhere near them."

"Well, look at you Jenkins. Finally stepping up to a fatherly role. Tell me, how many times have you actually acted like one? How many times have-"

"More than enough." Mariposa said. "So shut up, and try and hear me out for a second."

"Hear you out? About what?"

"About this." Mariposa said. "Listen, I know you've probably suffered a lot. We all have. We'll down thing we're not proud. I know you might not regret those things, but think of how you were before. You were a good person. You helped people...sometimes. But when you did, you meant it. Hell, you even used to babysit _us!_ Now, I don't know what happened to you that turned you into this, but please, don't do this. Think of how things were before. Before any of this."

Everyone, even the Black priests, stared at Mariposa, and then at Janna, not sure of what to expect. For a moment, maybe just one moment, Janna looked like she might agree.

But she didn't. She laughed, and then she said in an entirely deadpan voice, "Janna is dead. That's not going to work on me."

Mariposa sighed. "Worth a shot."

"No, not really." Janna said. "Okay. Enough. Time for phase two."

She motioned with her hand and her priests stepped forward, all of them moving as one unit. Jenkins rushed forward with a knife he pulled out his pocket to stab them, but one of the priests caught his arm with an almost superhuman speed, and he was quickly beaten to the ground with a flurry of punches.

Mariposa, on the other hand, tried to rush past them to get to the path, but another one of the priests blocked her way, and quickly knocked her out with a metal club thing.

Meteora raise dhet arm to try and cast some kind of spell, but like Janna said, she was faster, and Janna cast a spell of her own, launching it at Meteora. It stuck her in the head, and in an instant, she was knocked out.

Before her vision faded to darkness, she heard Janna speak.

"Whack her legs with one of the clubs. Make sure she can't leave easily. I'll make sure she can't get down."

With that, Meteora fell into a slumber, unable to resist the pull of the endless darkness embracing her.

…

…

...

"_Wake up."_

_..._

"_Wake up!"_

…

"_WAKE UP!"_

Meteora's eyes shot open at the sound of the Voice's insistent yelling. She tried to get on her feet, but it felt like her legs were broken.

"I think they broke my legs!" She said.

"_No. They are not broken. But they are in bad shape. Every part of you is. They beat you up pretty bad."_

"No kidding…" Meteora looked at her surroundings. She was still on that cliff, only the path that led to the ground was gone. It appeared to have crumbled away from the mountain.

"Where did-"

"_Who do you think? Janna used a spell and destroyed the path to make sure you couldn't leave. The only way off now...is death by falling."_

"No." Meteora said. "No no no! Why did they leave me?! They took Mariposa and Jenkins, why did they leave me here?"

"_Janna said she was simply following orders. As to who gave her those orders, I don't know. But whoever it was, it's possible they want you alive. But then again, maybe not, considering they did leave you up here with no way down. The only option now is to jump."_

"That really is the only option now, right?" She asked. "I mean, we saw the mountain on the way up. That path was the _only _way up. Everything else is just a sheer cliff. I can't climb down."

"_I know. I… I'm sorry."_

Meteora was taken aback by this apology.

"You? Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"_Sorry for getting you into this. It is my fault after all. I was the one who thought-"_

"No."

"_What?"_

"No. This isn't your fault. It's my fault. Everything that led up to this point is my fault."

The voice sighed. "_You know that's not tru-"_

"But it is!" Meteora blurted out. "Everything's my fault. I was the one who suggested we go to this mountain top. I was the one who thought it would be a good idea. I thought we could get a better lay of the land, look for better spots to practice my spells! But what happened? Janna attacked us and now Mariposa and Jenkins are with her, and I'm going to die on top of this stupid mountain without having accomplished anything!"

"_You've accomplished plenty. Remember the battle at Lucitor castle? That tank blowing up was you. You did that. You saved everybody."_

"Did I?" She asked. "Or did I just prolong the inevitable? That Underworld war has probably already ended! No doubt Drosid and his allies have stormed Dave's castle and killed everybody. And all your talk about me saving everybody? About bring monsters and Mewmans together? Now I'll never be able to accomplish that!"

"_You CAN. There is still a chance. Do not give up on that. Not after everything. I won't let that happen."_

"What are you going to do about it?" Meteora asked. "What can we possibly do?

"_I…I…"_

"You don't know." Meteora said. "Just like I don't know."

Meteora fell on her back and looked up at the sky, small tears forming in her eyes. "I...I just wasn't good enough. My abilities, my power, everything. It wasn't good enough. It wasn't good enough to stop Janna, and if I can't even do that, then how can I save everybody? Or get off this mountain?"

Meteora looked towards the cliff. "Now there's no way off, no way to-" She suddenly stopped talking, as if realizing something.

"_What is it?" _The voice asked.

"I...was wrong." Meteora said. "There is a way off this mountain, isn't there?"

"_What are you...no." _The voice said, realizing what she was thinking.

Meteora got up off the ground. She stared at the cliff. A million thoughts came to her mind, all of them equally unlikely, but she knew she had to try.

"_You're going to jump, aren't you?" _The voice said. "_To try and gain your butterfly form."_

Meteora didn't respond, but for some reason her silence indicated that the Voice was correct in its assumption.

"_You can't." _It said. "_You're not strong enough with magic. It's too early for you to try that! It won't work."_

"Are you sure?" Meteora asked. "You said that the way I gain my butterfly form is when I try to protect other people. There is no better time. I have to protect myself by getting off this mountain. I have to protect Mariposa and Jenkins by getting to Janna and stopping her. Finally, I have to protect the people of the Underworld by gaining that form and killing Drosid, just like you said. If I can't do this now, then I will never be able to."

She took a step towards the cliff, with confidence in her steps.

Seeing that she was really about to jump, the Voice started panicking. "_Meteora…" _It said, it's voice full of noticeable fear. "_Don't. It might not work. If you die, then this all will have been for nothing. Everything I have done will be for nothing. You will never meet your mother or father, and you will be but a footnote in history. DO NOT DO IT."_

"I'm supposed to save everybody and protect them." Meteora said. "If I can't protect the two people that matter most to me, then what has this all been for? Nothing. It would have been for nothing. I'm going to do this."

"Plus, if it does work," She said. "Then I _will _meet my mother and father, and I will go down in history as...something more than a footnote. Listen, I know you've worked hard to accomplish everything and get me this far, but this is something I have to do."

Meteora took another step forward and strode towards the cliff. On the edge, she stopped and looked out towards the horizon, the sun setting over it.

"_Please." _The voice said. "_Don't. Try and find another way."_

"You said there would be risks involved in this." Meteora said. "I'm taking one. If this doesn't work...thanks for all your help."

Meteora took a few steps backwards to ready her self to jump. A second later, she sprinted towards the cliff, determined to let nothing stop her.

"_NONONO DON'T JUMP-"_

Too late. Meteora launched herself off the cliff. In an instant, she could feel stomach disappear and the air flying past her.

"_OH SHIT! OH SHIT!" _The Voice said, now out of control. "OKAY, LISTEN TO ME, YOU HAVE TO-"

"Quiet." Meteora said, completely calm despite the circumstances. "I can do this. Just concentrate, and think about everybody that I need to protect. Don't talk."

The Voice obeyed this command, but Meteora could still hear it in her head, sounding like a person pacing back and forth in fear.

She ignored it. She ignored the ground coming up, the wind flying past her, the thought of not being able to get the butterfly form. She closed her eyes.

'Just...concentrate.' She thought. 'Think about getting the butterfly form. Think about the people you're trying to save. Think about how you're going to save them.'

For a second, it seemed to be working. She could feel a slight tingling in her fingertips and on her back, as if she were casting a spell. A second later, it was a strain, as if something was fighting to come out.

'Okay.' She thought. 'Just like the Voice said. Feel that energy. Understand it, embrace it, and...unleash it.'

It was almost like casting a spell. Meteora could feel the magical energy. It was there. She knew it. And like so many times casting spells before, all she had to do was...let go of it.

"Now." She whispered.

Then, like a gigantic weight lifting off her shoulders, she took the energy she was feeling, and let go of it, unleashed it, like any other spell she cast before.

Then she felt something. An indescribable feeling that she had never felt before. In that moment, she knew it had worked. She could feel something come out her back, like two giant wings coming into existence like the visions in her memories. She could four arms sprout out of nowhere, like plants coming out of the ground. She could feel all of these things, and now she could move them as easily as any other limb she had.

She opened her eyes and noticed the ground coming up. In a few seconds it would hit. But in an effortless motion, she activated her wings and flew a foot above the ground, dust kicking up behind her.

She then turned around towards the cliff and rocketed up the side of it, soaring towards the sky. She flew towards the clouds until she was above them, and looked around.

The view was breathtaking. She could see everything. She could feel magical energy in her, like she was casting a spell at every moment. But she could control it. She felt more in control than she had ever been.

The Voice, almost too shocked for words, struggled to form sentences.

"_S-so. Wh-what now?" _It asked, surprise obvious in it's voice. But Meteora could detect pride in there as well. It was proud. Something Meteora never thought it would be.

"What do you think?" She said.

"We're gonna go protect some people."

And she smiled.

And she laughed.

**End chapter 23**

**A/N: My my, quite the chapter. I've been planning that scene since chapter 5, so I hope it was well written. I think this may be the halfway point for this arc, depending on how I want to do things.**

**Also, just like with the last chapter, I am sorry for the long wait times, and once again I will likely have no idea when the next chapter will be released. I'm starting to hit a small case of writer's block, so I hope you all understand.**

**Thank you for reading, and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	24. Chapter 24: Magic unlike any other

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 24**

**Magic unlike any other**

Darkness.

That was all Jenkins could see.

A crushing, endless darkness, like an ocean on top of him, it's weight suffocating him. He couldn't breath. He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything at all, except try and endure it. But he couldn't.

Then he saw more things. Flashes of faces, of people he had killed, of people he had left behind, of the ones he had crushed in order to stay alive. All regrets. All things he could never take back. No matter how much he wished he could.

The first person he ever killed. Some random monster soldier, forced to fight a battle he never want to be in…

The orders he gave while being leader of the E.D.F., some of which could constitute as war crimes against other dimensions...

Not being there when Seth attacked his base, which led to the end of the world…

Then a flurry of the dozens of people that he killed during the apocalypse as well. So many lives taken, simply because they had been pushed to the brink of survival. They were just trying to survive, what right did he have to kill them?

No. He had too. Didn't he? If he hadn't killed them, he would have no food. Then Meteora and Mariposa would have no food. Then they would die, all of them, and everything he had done up to this point would have all been for nothing.

He couldn't have that.

He had to do what was right. He had to do what needed to be done. He had to...to...wait. Why was all this coming up at this time? Was he having a nightmare? He had had plenty. Thousands, in fact. All of them equally terrible. But this didn't seem like any kind of nightmare. Just a bunch of flashbacks.

More images appeared to him, more images of the past, but Jenkins ignored them. He thought as hard as he could. About what was happening before any of this. Something to do with...magic? Yes, something about that. And somebody was using it against them. An enemy. That might have been once been a friend?

Jenkins concentrated as hard as he could to remember who it was. What was their name? J-something? Jam? No, that couldn't be right. James? No, that wasn't it either. Jane? Jana? Janna! Yes, that was it, Janna! That's who was attacking them! What had happened after that? He vaguely remembered being knocked out. It that what was happening now?

His question was answered when he suddenly felt something hit him across the face. He immediately was brought back to the waking world and sprung up off the ground before he even had a chance to check out his surroundings. But he was immediately pushed back to the ground by an unknown assailant.

He briefly rubbed his eyes and looked around.

He was in some kind of truck. One of the trucks that had those giant metal storage containers attached to the back of them. There were five people inside, including him. Mariposa sat to his right, clutching her knees to her chest and glaring at Janna, who was looming over them. Two of her priests were accompanying her, taking positions to her left and right. Several seemingly random objects were also insides, ranging from chairs to pillows.

Seeing that he was now awake, Janna smiled and spoke up.

"Well, look who's awake." She said. "I was tired of waiting for you wake up on your own, so I just slapped you across the face."

Jenkins growled at her and clenched his teeth. "How nice of you. Where the hell are we?"

"I'm glad you asked." Janna said. She walked over to a foldable chair leaning against one of the trucks walls and grabbed it, bringing it over to them and sitting down in it.

"We're in a truck, obviously. One of four that I have. Now, before you ask where I got them, let me just tell you, it was _not _easy. Two of them I practically had to dig out of the ground, and the other two, one of which we're in right now, I had to be...creative, so to speak, in order to get it running. But because me and my priests stay in that mountains all the time, I never really had a use for them until you guys. So I just hid them in the middle of the desert, making sure to always keep a close eye on them in case we ever needed them. Luckily, we do now."

"Where are you taking us?" Mariposa asked. "If you wanted to kill us, you'd have done it by now."

"That's right." Janna said. "I _could_, but fortunately for you, I can't. I have my orders to take you somewhere. I'm not going to tell you because _I _don't even know. I was just told to drive in this direction and stop when we see something. Also to leave the other brat behind for whatever reason."

Jenkins leaned back against one of the trucks walls.

"Great." He said. "So we wait. I'm going to assume you don't know who's actually giving you those orders."

Janna nodded. "Yeah, I don't really know who it is. But they did tell me to not tell you anything about them. Apparently even a scrap of information about them would give their identity away immediately. Which I don't understand. But who am I to judge? I'm sure you guys have made plenty of enemies over the years. Although you've probably killed most of them…"

"We've killed all of them." Jenkins snapped at her. "Except for you and...someone else, everybody who's antagonized us has ended up dead."

"Impressive." Janna said, fake clapping her hands. "But not really. Everybody that's attacked you has probably been nothing but a bunch of weaklings compared to you and the others. But you still can't handle that, can you?"

"What are you talking about?" Jenkins asked.

"I saw those injuries." Janna said. "I can only imagine how many scars you have under those clothes. You've gotten rusty. You're not even good enough to protect your two little brats. I saw Meteora's ear back there on that cliff. That looks like it hurt a lot. But I guess you just weren't strong enough to protect her. Just like you weren't strong enough to protect the world from being destroyed. Your fault."

Jenkins could take it. He leapt up off the ground and headed straight for Janna, not even caring if he died in the process. But her two priests quickly stepped in front of her, pulled out their machetes and holding them to his throat. His brain screamed at him to stop moving so he wouldn't get his throat slit, which he obeyed.

"Hm. Looks like I struck a nerve there." Janna said, smiling as if she was enjoying every second. "Calm down. I was just stating the facts. You _aren't _strong enough to fully protect them from danger, and you know it. Or, at least, you're afraid of it."

Mariposa got up and stared Janna down. "Well, he's does a lot better job than you ever could. I see what you are Janna."

"Oh, do you?"

"Yeah. You're not anything special. Let's see what you've got. You kill people. Okay, not bad. You have a bunch of lackeys. Nothing we haven't seen before. You can use magic. Well, so can Meteora. So that's what you've got." Mariposa said with a sneer.

Janna frowned, and was about to respond to this, but Mariposa kept going, hitting Janna with another hard truth.

"Nothing you've done had been original." She said. "Nothing you've done is new. You're just a knockoff of a copy of a knockoff of somebody else. Even the fact that you can use magic, while impressive, doesn't make any more interesting. You're not some final enemy to us. You're just another roadblock for us to get through, and I promise that by the end of the day, that's exactly what we'll do."

Janna didn't speak. But the expression on her face looked like she might explode on Mariposa at any second.

But she didn't. Instead she burst out laughing.

Jenkins and Mariposa exchanged glances in confusion, and even her priests looked like they were unnerved by this behavior.

Once she had stopped laughing, Janna turned back to them.

"Don't you think I know that?" She said. "Of course nothing I've done is original. The universe is billions of years old. The Omniverse is _trillions _of years old, at least. Everything that's happening now has happened before in some form or another. But people keep doing it because they don't like to think about that way. So I don't either."

"Well, now what?" Jenkins asked. "We just go to wherever you're taking us, and then we probably die?"

"That's the plan." Janna said. "I think."

Everybody then felt the truck skid to a sudden stop , and they all struggled to stay on their feet for a moment.

"Speak of the devil…" Janna said. "Get ready you two."

Janna walked to the back of the truck and opened it with latch, revealing the outside world. It was already night, and Jenkins could see another truck behind them. Janna hopped out and one of the priests from another truck walked over to her.

"Well?" She asked. "Are we...wherever we're supposed to be?"

"Not really." The priest said. "You told us to stop when we saw something, and we just saw something in the distance."

"And that thing was…"

"We thought we saw two large green lights, but then they disappeared a second later, so we stopped to check them out."

"Two green lights…" Janna said, her eyes darting to the side.

"Yeah." The priest said. "So, what do you think we should-"

"Shhhhh…" Janna said, shushing him. "Get ready. I don't think we're the only ones out here. Get everybody else, and tell them to be on their guard."

"Okayyyyy…" The priest said nervously, heading back towards the truck.

Meanwhile, inside the truck Janna had just gotten out of, Jenkins and Mariposa attempted to listen to her conversation, but only heard a small tidbit of it.

"What did they say?" Mariposa asked.

"I think they saw something." Jenkins answered. "But it wasn't where we're headed."

"What do you think it is?"

Jenkins stared out of the truck and into the night.

"I have an idea about it could be, and I really hope it's true."

The rest of the priests piled out of the rest of the trucks and prepared themselves for a possible fight. They pulled out their machetes and got in combat positions like a gaggle of trained soldiers.

"Where is it?" Janna asked. "Where did you see those lights?"

"Over there." One of the priests answered, pointing to their right. They just appeared, and then they were gone a second later. I don't know where they could have-"

"There!" A voice called out. Everybody turned in it's direction to see another one of the priests pointing into the darkness. "I saw those lights again!"

"Hmmm." Janna looked around, searching for something, anything, and she found it. In the distance, maybe half a mile away, she could see two faint green spots, glowing in the night. But just like the priests said they had, they vanished a second later.

"It's stalking us…" She said to herself, although everybody could hear it. "But it's not going to wait much longer to attack. Everybody prepare yourselves!"

Jenkins and Mariposa started to get out of the truck, but Janna quickly out a stop to it by pointing her hand at them. "Get back in there!" She yelled. "Once we deal with whatever this is, you two are going-"

"Shut up." Jenkins said, his voice practically joyful.

"What?!"

Jenkins stared Janna directly in the eyes, and smiled at her.

"Have fun dying." He said, before retreating back into the truck along with Mariposa.

"What did he mean by that?" One of the priests asked. "Does he really think that we can't handle-"

"Quiet!" Janna hissed. "Do you hear that?"

Everybody stopped talking and listened to the sounds of the night. At first they couldn't hear anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Then there was another sound. An unfamiliar sound.

"Are those...wings?" Somebody asked.

"Sounds like it." Answered another.

"It's getting closer." Janna said. "Whatever you do, don't lose focus, not for a secon-"

Then something with all the speed and strength of a bullet train slammed into the truck at the back of their convoy, utterly obliterating the cabin and killing the person inside.

Everybody instantly jumped a foot in the air out of fear and whipped around toward the truck, whose front was now nothing more than a pile of scrap covered in blood.

"What the hell was that?!" Somebody shrieked.

"It's a monster!" Somebody else yelled.

"Stop panicking you cowards!" Janna screamed at them. "Keep looking around for it! Don't give up just yet!"

Easier said than done. A moment later, a huge green beam of light flew out of the darkness towards them, taking out a portion of the ground five feet across...along with three of Janna's lackeys.

"That was magic…" Somebody said, realization drawing on them.

"It's that dumb butterfly girl we left back in the cliff!" Somebody yelled. Several of the priests got closer to Janna, as if thinking that they would be safer near her.

"Get back you idiots!" She yelled at them. "Don't clump together! That'll just make us an easier target. Everybody form a circle around the trucks. Make it so that she can't attack us from any direction without us seeing her first."

"What difference will that make?" One of them asked. "You're the only one who had any _real_ magic. Compared to what you have, our magic would be the equivalent of card tricks."

"Don't care." Janna said. "Just do what I tell you."

Back in one of the trucks, Jenkins and Mariposa were watching the whole shit-show unfold, with both of them enjoying it to the extreme.

"This is the greatest thing ever." Jenkins said, wishing he had brought some popcorn. "Meteora got her butterfly form, and now she's using it to do what it does best: Waste everybody. That is magic unlike any other."

"Definitely." Mariposa said. "This is great. Can't wait to see her once this is all over. But do you think we should help her?"

"Nah." Jenkins said. "This is _her _moment. Don't take it away. Just let her get it all out of her system. If needed, we'll clean up what's left."

"Alright."

Back outside, everybody was getting into Janna's circle formation in a futile attempt to stop Meteora. They all shakily got into the formation, fearing for their lives for perhaps the first time in several years.

"Good." Janna said. "Now, nobody look away. Don't even blink if you don't have to. It's time for-"

Once again, Janna was interrupted by another one of Meteora's magic barrages, this time directly from above them. A large bolt of magic flew directly into the middle of the circle, creating a large shockwave that slammed them all onto the ground.

"Yeaaah!" Jenkins yelled from the truck. "Keep going Meteora! Don't forget the other two trucks! Take them out!"

Janna growled at Jenkins, but as much as she wanted to, she didn't attack him. She had more important things to do. Getting up off the ground, she ran into one of the trucks that Meteora hadn't destroyed or contained somebody she hated and flung the door open. Several sudden screams of pain and terror from behind her indicated that Meteora had once again attacked her lackeys, but she didn't care. She knew she couldn't take Meteora. She had to leave _now, _or she would suffer the same fate as the others.

She turned the truck on and slammed on the gas pedal, and it roared away.

"Hey!" One of the priests yelled. "She's leaving without us!"

"Like hel-" Another one started, before being cut off by a gigantic rock crushing him, causing the priests level of fear to once again be amplified.

Several hundred feet in the air, Meteora flew away from the scene and prepared to turn around to attack them again.

"_Why did you drop that giant stone on them?"_ The Voice asked. "_I don't see what that really added."_

"Hey, you were the one who suggested I get them all good and scared." Meteora said. "You said it would make them unable to think straight. Now they have to worry about me dropping giant rocks on them. I mean, I'm not going to do it again, but it's still in the back of their minds."

"_Fair enough. But don't forget about Janna. She getting away in that one truck."_

"Not for long." Meteora changed direction and soared towards the truck Janna was attempting to escape in, reading a spell to disable it. Drawing her arms back, she then thrust them forward and released yet another bolt of magic, this time aiming for the trucks wheels. The spell hit true, blowing up all the wheels on the right side of the truck and causing it to skid and then flip over into its side.

"Perfect shot." Meteora said, smiling.

"_Indeed. But take care of the rest."_

"Right."

Meteora flew back around towards the circle formation, which was now more of an oval. Some of them were running away, and some of them were trying to find weapons, but most simply stood in place, frozen in fear.

Upon seeing them like this, Meteora stopped where she was and simply hovered in place.

"_Is something wrong?" _The Voice asked her.

"Yeah." Meteora said. "This doesn't feel right. I don't want to kill these guys anymore. I'm just going straight for Janna."

"_Why?" _The Voice asked. "_Oh wait, I know. You feel bad. You see them all scared and terrified of you, and now you feel guilty because you pity them."_

"Not pity." Meteora said. "Okay, well, maybe. But you have to understand: I'm not going to gain anything out of killing these guys. It's really Janna we're after. Once she falls, the rest will give up. I've seen it happen before."

The Voice sounded like it was about to protest, but stopped and just went along with it. "_Fine. Go get Janna. End this."_

Meteora once again turned around and headed towards Janna's truck, which was now nothing more than a wreck.

Janna herself slowly crawled out of the cabin, groaning in pain all the way. As Meteora landed in front of her, she looked up, sighed, and laughed.

"Well well." She said. "Not bad Meteora. I must say, I am impressed. I didn't think you would-"

Meteora didn't give her another chance to speak. She dashed towards her, grabbed her by the throat and then slammed her up against the truck. Janna flailed and attempted to get out of her grasp, but it was futile. Meteora hung on, and her grip was as hard and unyielding as iron.

"Geez! Give me a chance to speak!" She choked out. "Can't you at least grant me that?"

"Don't really want to...but fine." Meteora obliged. "Make it your last wish."

"Good. Now listen. I know I did some things. I know that I killed a lot of people. I even tried to kill you, and then I left you for dead on that cliff."

"Why did you do that?" Meteora demanded. "What could you possibly have gained from just leaving me there?"

"Hey, I was just following my orders." Janna said. "I was told to leave you there, so that's what I did. I guess that was a mistake, unless all this was also part of the plan."

"I doubt that. But who told you? Who's giving you your orders?"

"I don't know."

"Bullshit!" Meteora yelled. "How could you not know? How do you even talk to them?!"

"Communication spell." Janna answered. "A very special one. One that only me and him can use. He taught it to me and-"

"Taught?" Meteora said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Taught. I mean, where do you think I got all my spells from? This guy taught them to me, and I just copied it. Works like a charm too."

"Voice…" Meteora growled.

"_Don't look at me. I don't have any idea what she's talking about."_

"We'll confirm that later. But for now…" She turned her attention back to Janna. "I want to know everything about you."

"What, everything?" Janna asked.

"Yes. Everything. How did you become who you are? How did you get your magic? When did you first meet this person who taught you spells? And most importantly, why you're doing it in the first place."

"Well for starters-"

"_Behind you." _The Voice said.

Meteora sighed and turned around to see one of Janna's priests just a few feet away, arm raised directly at her head.

"Put her down!" The priest said. "Or I will kill you, I swear!"

"Oh stop." Meteora said. "Look around you. It's over. Your leader is defeated, most of you are dead, and most everyone else is too terrified to even move. Also, don't think I didn't hear you talking earlier about how your magic is nothing but card tricks. I doubt any spell you can use would even hurt me. So put that hand down and surrender."

The priest hesitated for a moment, but soon saw that Meteora was correct. He slowly started to bring his arm back down to his side, but Janna quickly put a stop to it.

"Don't you dare." She said. "Surrender, and I promise that whatever she would do to you, I'm going to do a lot worse."

The priest looked from Meteora, then back to Janna, then back to Meteora. He made his choice. As scared as he was of Meteora, Janna was somehow even more terrifying.

He raised his arm at Meteora again, and just like Janna had done back at her base, his arm started to glow a faint shade of purple.

Meteora quickly counteracted this move by raising one of her arms and quickly firing off another bolt of magic. The priest barely had time to blink before the spell reached him and ended his life, dead before he even had a chance to react.

Meteora stared at the smoking pile of ash and scoffed. "Amateur." She turned back towards Janna. "Geez Janna, what were you thinking teaching guys like this magi-" She stopped short, seeing that Janna was now pointing her hand directly at her. It quickly brightened to a brilliant purple.

"Oh, come on-" Meteora started, before being hit point-blank by Janna's spell. The entire world went purple, then black as she felt herself flying through the air, but his time without using her wings.

She then felt herself land some-twenty feet away, unable to see or hear anything except a loud ringing in her ears. She attempted to call out for someone, but the words forming in her brain just couldn't seem to reach her mouth.

"_Hey! Are you alright?"_

'Is this it?" She thought. 'Is this seriously how I die? Even after all that? After everything I've been through?"

"_Can you hear me?"_

'Wait...what's that sound? Is someone trying to talk to me? No, it's gone. It's just darkness.'

"_Turn over." _The Voice said, finally getting through to her.

"What?"

"_Turn over you fool. You're not dying, you're just lying on your face. The darkness is just the ground."_

Meteora obeyed this and attempted to flip herself over, albeit rather painfully. When she finally succeeded, she was met with just more darkness.

"It's just more-"

"_Clouds are covering the stars. Lift your head up."_

Meteora pushed herself up and looked around. Not that far away from her, she could the last one of Janna's trucks speeding away, with her remaining lackeys grabbing on to it however they could, refusing to be left behind.

"Well, that's the end of that…" Meteora said. "How the hell did I survive? She hit me with that spell point blank.

I don't think I should even still have a head, much less be seemingly unharmed."

"_Don't ask me. Maybe it's because she didn't have long enough to charge it all the way. Or perhaps she was holding back. But it doesn't matter. Either way, it's over. Nice job."_

"Thanks I guess…" Meteora said, slowly getting on her feet. She could then feel her wings and four extra arms fade out of existence, like a flickering candle. And just like a candle, it was then blown out. She was back to normal.

"Well."

"_Well?"_

"Now what?"

"_First things first, go get Jenkins and Mariposa. We'll get back to Echo creek using the truck that you left unharmed. Thank god for that."_

"Trust me, don't think I wasn't being careful."

"_If you were, you weren't really showing it."_

"That's great. Now then...let's get the gang back together."

Slightly limping all the way, Meteora walked back to the truck that Jenkins and Mariposa had watched the whole ordeal from, where she found them sitting inside. Once Jenkins saw her, he smiled and did this sort of slow-clap thing.

"Hot damn." He said. "If that wasn't the most satisfying thing i've seen all year. I can't wait to see you unleash that stuff on Drosid's demon army. It's gonna be sweet."

"Definitely." Meteora said. "But Janna got away, as did a lot of her followers. They're still out there."

"They're not gonna come back." Jenkins said, confidence in his words. "Not after that. Her lackeys were beyond terrified, and only she had any kind of power that can stop. By the way, are you alright? It looked like she hit with a pretty nasty spell."

"Now I'm left wondering why you didn't ask that when you first saw me. But yeah, I'm fine. Somehow. Either Janna wasn't at her full...magic strength or whatever, or she was holding back. Doesn't matter either way."

"I suppose." Jenkins said. "But now that that's all said and done, let's go. There's nothing left for us here."

"Already?" Mariposa asked. "Shouldn't we go through the wreckage of the other two trucks? See if there's anything useful?"

"I doubt there's anything in them." Jenkins said. "But fine. Go ahead. I'll be in the driver's seat of _this _one. When you're ready, we're going back to Echo creek. Then we're going to the Underworld, and finishing that demon war."

"More death. Can't wait." Meteora said.

"Meteora, you just killed over a dozen people. Also, it's war. You do what you must."

"Not sure I agree with that, but whatever. Let's go Mari."

All of them left the back of the truck and heads to their destinations. Jenkins climbed into the trucks front seat while the other two investigated the remaining trucks. But just like Jenkins and predicted, they found nothing worthwhile. They both got into the other side of the one Jenkins was in and waited.

And waited.

Then they waited a little bit more.

"Are...you gonna start this thing?" Meteora asked, glancing over at him.

"Give me a minute." He said, looking over the controls. "Thankfully, the morons left the keys in, but it's been a decade and a half since I've driven _any _type of vehicle. I know how, but don't expect me to be the best driver in the world."

Slowly, he turned the keys in the ignition and the truck came to life. He stepped on the gas pedal and turned it around, being careful to avoid the other truck. He then turned the trucks front lights on, and after that was done, they were on their way.

"I don't know long it's gonna take." He said. "Definitely a few hours or so. So get comfy."

Meteora rested her head on the window and stared out of it. It was still dark, but the sun was starting to rise. Despite this being her first time in any sort of moving vehicle, she felt like she was used to it.

'Probably because I can fly ten times faster..." She thought, before closing her eyes.

She then whispered as quietly as she could, speaking directly to the Voice.

"When I fall asleep , you and I are going to have a conversation about Janna's teacher in the mind realm or whatever. Shouldn't be too long from now though. I felt like I just took twenty sleeping pills."

"_You'd be dead if you actually-"_

Don't...care…" She said, before dozing off.

**Meanwhile…**

Traveling in the opposite direction, the truck Janna was driving was still going along, with several of her lackeys still hanging on to it. As the sun started to rise over the horizon, she stopped it and got out.

"Alright!" She yelled. "Who's not dead?"

One of her priests, nearly shaking with anger, ignored Janna's question and pointed a long and accusing finger at her.

"You!" He said, waving his other hand at the remaining priests. "Look at this! Look at what happened! We told you that it was a bad idea, that it would be best to just leave them alone, but you didn't listen? No! Now look what we're at! Yo-"

"Quiet." Janna said, unfazed in the slightest by this outburst.

The priest stopped talking immediately, suddenly relaxing who he was yelling at.

"I...sorry." He said. "But what the hell are we going to do against _that? _What are we going to do against the magic brat?"

"Nothing." Janna said.

"What?" Several of her priests said at the same time, unsure if they had heard her correctly.

"Nothing." Janna repeated. "Everything went _exactly _as planned. Now that Eclipsa's brat has her butterfly form, all the pieces are slowly falling into place. He will be most pleased."

"He? What are you...oh." One of her priests started. "This was his plan? The whole time?"

"Yup."

"Even most of us getting _killed_ back there?!"

"Sacrifices must be made." Janna said. "Nothing is without consequence. But don't worry. We won't have to worry about Meteora ever again. Not after he's done with her…"

"So...what do we do now?" Somebody asked.

"We're going to the Underworld now. Those three are no longer our concern. So get ready, we'll be turning around soon."

Everybody murmured upon hearing this. Most of them didn't even know what to make of it.

"I know." Janna said. "It's odd. But it is _his _orders. So that's what we're doing."

"What are we doing there?"

"Apparently…"

"We're going to go make some allies."

**End chapter 24**

**A/N: Hm. I'm sure you all know who Janna's getting orders from. A magic teacher, how many of those do we know about?**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please leave PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	25. Chapter 25: Just another thorn

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 25**

**Just another thorn**

"Are you sure you don't know what she was talking about?"

"_No." _The Voice said. "_I don't know any other beings that she could be referring to. Every other person that could teach her magic is either dead, or would be entirely unwilling to help her."_

Meteora groaned in annoyance. She still didn't know anything. After falling asleep in Janna's truck just a few minutes ago, then waking up in the odd dark realm that she was already used too, the Voice had told her it didn't know anything. Which was kind of a rare event.

"Nobody?" She asked. "Not one person?"

"_Like I said…" _The Voice responded, starting to get annoyed. "_No. I don't know anybody who could have taught her."_

"Sorry for me asking…" Meteora said. "But how am I completely sure that _you _didn't teach her?"

"_...Really?"_

"What?! It was a genuine question. There's still so much I don't know about you, so pardon me if I'm not a little bit suspicious."

"_Think before you talk Meteora." _The Voice said, not even hiding it's disappointment. "_Think before you talk. Tell me, what would I gain from helping both Janna and you? Why would I ever help someone like Janna?"_

"I...ummm…"

"_That's right. I wouldn't. You don't know because there is no reason I would help her. I want to help this world. After fate trapped me here, I made that decision. I made a plan to help it all. Part of that plan involves you. But it does not involve Janna. Not anymore. Not after what she's become. She is something else now. Something darker, and fueled by power more ancient than she could ever begin to imagine. I would never help someone like that. Not when I wouldn't get a single thing out of it. If I try and help Janna, I doubt she's going to even listen to me like you did."_

"Alright. I see your point." Meteora said, accepting her mistake. "But she listened to someone. She's _listening _to someone! They're still out there, and if they taught Janna everything she knows, then they're even more of a threat than her."

"_Yes. And I'm going to be completely honest with you here, so listen up. I'm worried. This could ruin everything. Every single thing I've done. Whoever Janna's...master is, so to speak, they're obviously not a fool."_

"Well...I'm not so sure about that." Meteora said. "Whoever it was that ordered Janna to do those things didn't think it all through. They ordered Janna to leave me there on that mountain, and what did that lead to? Oh right, it led to me getting my butterfly form and killing most of them. Who could have seen that one coming?"

"_Unless they wanted you to gain that form._"

"What?!" Meteora said. "Why would they want me to...gain...that...form. Oh...oh no."

"_What now?"_

"What...if you're right?" Meteora said. "What if that's _exactly _they wanted me to do? Why else would they just tell Janna to leave me there? What could they have possibly gained out of doing that? They had to have known that that's what would have happened. And if that was what they really wanted...then we've just been doing everything thing they wanted us to."

"_Okay, it was just a suggestion, you don't have to-"_

"No." Meteora said. "We can't take any chances here. Not anymore. Not against an enemy we know nothing about, because those are the most dangerous ones. Everything we do from this point forward, we have to be as careful as we can. Anything we do is decided by either me or you, _no one else_. Not Jenkins, not Mariposa, no one. If they make the decisions, then they might be doing what this person wants as well, so we can't have that."

"_It's...nice, to see you so in control." _The Voice said. "_But if that's what we're doing, then what do we do next?"_

"Hm. I guess since we're already here in the mind world or whatever, we may as well use it. I'd like to look into the past again with your memories. There are some things I want to see. About Janna. Maybe they could help with finding out who her boss is."

"_You...don't want to talk to your mother with the communication spell?" _The Voice asked. "_Remember, I said that once you had your butterfly form, you would be strong enough. You could do it right now if you want."_

Meteora paused. She could, couldn't she? But was it truly the right time to do it? Or were more important things at stake? She had to decide between doing something for herself, or doing something for everyone. Those memories of Janna could potentially reveal everything, depending on what they were. But her mother...someone she had already waited so long to talk to…

No. It would have to wait. Again. Those memories and finding out the identity of Janna's boss took precedence. If she attacked them again, then she would she would have to be ready in case Janna brought her master with her. She could use the communication spell at any time, but she couldn't do the same with dealing with an enemy.

"I can't." Meteora said. "I know you know how important that spell and my mother is, but you should also know that what we're doing is more important. This can't wait. If Janna attacks us again...then we have to be ready. No mistakes. Not one."

"_Okay then." _The Voice said. "_If that's what you think is more important, then it's your call. So, which memory should we look first?"_

"Well, let's think about this." Meteora said. "It has to be one of Janna. The things she did. The people she's met. We need to look at all of it. Nothing can be discounted as useless, and _everything_ must be considered to be useful. We have no idea when this person first met her. It could be before the apocalypse or after it, but if it happened before, then it might be easier to figure out."

"_Which one then? I have many memories of her. She always just seemed to be hanging around things."_

"I don't know. Just pick one at random. Maybe we'll see if she's doing anything suspicious."

"_Very well. Give me a second…"_

Silence hung in the air for a minute or so, until the world around Meteora disappeared, and quickly shifted to a new one. Sudden sunlight flooded the area, and Meteora squinted her eyes at the rise in luminosity. When she fully opened them again, she was once again in another unfamiliar place. It appeared to be some kind of restaurant, with dozens of tables with people sitting at them scattered around, along with multiple waiters serving food.

"What's this?" Meteora asked.

"_One of my memories of Janna. I remember being here because I was bored, and had nothing else to look at."_

"Where is-"

"_To your left."_

Meteora turned left and saw Janna sitting at a table, looking much younger and dressed in a...dress, with some boy that looked like a demon sitting across from her. Both of them looked extremely happy.

"Wait…" Meteora said. "Is this a date?! You seriously brought me to a memory of her on a-"

"_No. No." _The Voice said. "_You do not get to complain. It was you who said just a minute ago that every memory could be useful, and nothing could be discounted. Also, you told me to pick one at random, so I did. Here you go."_

"I...okay, fair point. My mistake." Meteora said. She walked over to their table and inspected the couple. She looked from Janna, to the demon boy, then back to Janna, unsure as to what she was doing. She sighed then pointed to the demon.

"So who's this guy?" She asked. "Looks familiar…"

"_You may recognize him from some paintings in the Lucitor castle. That's Tom Lucitor, son of Dave Lucitor. Remember, he was trapped in this world when the merge happened. I believe Dave told you that."_

"Really…" Meteora said. "Don't remember him telling us that. Not at all. I feel like that was Jenkins…"

"_Then perhaps your memories are being affected again."_

"Maybe, but I think like that skull fracture would have healed by know."

"_Memories don't return when a wound is healed. It takes more...dramatic, solutions for them to come back."_

"Great. But anyways...this is Tom, huh?" Meteora said, eyeing him over. "Figured he would be more...grand, considering he was the prince of the Underworld."

"_Yes well, look at Dave. He was king, and he was even less "grand" in my opinion. It's easy to misinterpret stories."_

"Definitely." Meteora said. "Once, when Jenkins was telling us about the sun, he described it as a star. It was one of the first things he told us about. Then when he told us stories of Star butterfly, I was confused for the first hour before I realized that he wasn't talking about the sun, he was talking about a person."

"_Ha!" _The Voice exclaimed. "_Exactly what I would have expected. I don't think he was always the best at explaining things._"

"Actually, he's pretty good at it." Meteora said. "He has to be, after the literal _dozens _of stories he's taught us. After a while I guess you just become a master at it."

"_I think that the qualifications for becoming a master of anything is 10,000 hours of practice."_

"Then he very well may be a master at it." Meteora said. "I mean, what the hell else were we gonna do back then? Plus, me and Mariposa asked a lot of questions. Hundreds of them."

"_Fascinating. Now let's get back to the topic at hand."_

"Right. Right. So what was a guy like Tom doing going on a date with Janna?"

"_That's not what I meant when I said, "get back to the topic at hand." But since you asked, I believe this date was just a bet that Janna had with Tom."_

"What was the bet over?"

"_Something about who had the most secrets. Tom lost, and so he had to go on a date with Janna."_

"...Why do I feel like that's something she'd do? Like, all the time?"

"_Because it is. She wasn't always a magic using murderous psycho. She just liked to play jokes on people. Have fun. Do whatever she wanted. But believe it or not, they actually started going on real dates after this. They became a couple. Until the apocalypse where Janna became what she is now."_

"Talk about escalation…going from Tom's girlfriend to a psycho at the world's end." Meteora said. "But what were you talking about then?"

"_I was talking about doing something useful. So, look around the restaurant. Do you see anything else? Anything that catches your eye?"_

Meteora looked up and cast a glance around the restaurant. But there wasn't really anything of worth to see. Just a bunch of people sitting around and eating. She kinda regretted saying that everything could be useful.

"I don't see much." She said. "But maybe we should listen in to their date. See what Janna's saying, if it had any clues in it. But who knows, maybe Toms in league with her as well."

(He isn't.)

"_I doubt that." _The Voice said. "_Very much._ _But yes, let's see if there's any clues. Janna was always the one for leaving hints in conversation."_

So they listened. The two didn't talk about much. Like, at all. Just simple couple stuff. How was your weekend? How are your parents doing? My parents are still in the Underworld Janna, I can't get to them. Oh right, sorry. I simply forgot…

You know, stuff like that.

"Okay, I regret saying what I said earlier." Meteora said. "It turns out that not _all _information can be useful. I know that you did say that Janna likes to drop hints in conversation, but if she is, then I'm not picking them up. Are you?"

"_No." _The Voice said. "_Not a thing. Perhaps I should have chosen a better memory. But still, we should stick around. We have all the time we could ever need, and we don't know how this will end."_

"Uh, yeah we should." Meteora said. "You were here the whole damn time, right? This is a memory of yours, not a time machine. Shouldn't you already know how this ends? In fact, shouldn't you have seen all of this?!"

"_I-okay, I'm going to be honest with you here . I only listened in to this date because I was bored and had nothing better to do. You'd think that with the whole world to spy on I'd find something else to look at, but no, I didn't. I really didn't. I've seen it all. On dozens of worlds I've spied on the past. It's like a kid in a classroom. They can hear the teacher talking, but they're not listening to any of it. It's just a bunch of rambling that they won't remember later. That's this. That is me. Spying on this date. I didn't really pay attention to what happened, because I've seen it before. So don't blame me for completely tuning it out."_

"Why didn't you just watch me? Considering how important I was to you."

"_Would you rather watch this, or watch a sleeping baby? Because that's what you're doing right now. Also, if you watch people sleep, you're kind of a creep. Don't think I don't have standards."_

"Uhhh...I think you already fit those guidelines." Meteora said. "You've spied on me for my whole life, probably at times that would be considered really inappropriate, and now you're a voice in my head, seeing everything I do. That's exactly what a creep is dude. I can only thank god or Glossaryck or whatever that you can "go" somewhere else when I have to use the bathroom and stuff. Because that would be really awkward."

"_You can thank the level five being for creating it that way. But if we're done discussing trivial matters, let's get back to being a creep, shall we?"_

"Yeah". Meteora said. "Let's."

So they did. Continuing to watch. But just like Meteora suspected, nothing really significant happened, except for Janna making a few odd comments towards past events that Meteora didn't understand.

"I think we can go." She said. "There's nothing for us here. Pick a different memory and-"

"_Wait." _The Voice said. "_I think something's about to happen."_

It would seem so. Tom got up from his chair and stretched his arms. "I need to use the restroom." He said. "Be right back." Janna nodded and Tom walked off to the bathroom, disappearing from sight.

"Oh wow." Meteora said, disappointment evident in her voice. "Tom went to use the bathroom. Very important. Should we go spy on him now? Go from a creep to being a peep? Or maybe-"

"_Look at Janna."_

Meteora sighed and glanced over at Janna, who was playing with the food on her plate, but doing nothing else.

"What am I looking at?"

"_Look at her plate Meteora."_

Meteora took this advice and look down at the plate. At first, she didn't see anything. Just a gaggle of random food. But then she noticed. It wasn't random. It appeared to be arranged to some sort of pattern. And Janna was arranging it that way.

"What is she-"

"_Shh. Keep watching. I can't believe I missed this. If she's doing what I thinks she's doing-"_

Janna finished off the pattern with a few squirts of ketchup covering things, arranged in similar patterns. Meteora watched carefully as Janna put her hand on the plate, directly over the food symbol, then leaned in toward the plate and whispered a few things. A second later, a large BOOM was heard from the direction of the bathroom, and Tom came running out, covering in water and broken white porcelain. Everybody in the restaurant turned his way as he sputtered out, "The damn toilet just exploded! What the hell was-agh! It's in my eyes!"

Meteora was shocked.

The Voice was shocked.

Janna simply say in her seat, covering her mouth with a napkin to hide her laughter.

As several people ran over to Tom to help him, Meteora struggled to find the right words.

"Wha-what in the...what did she just do?! Was that some kind of ritual?!"

"_It would seem so." _The Voice, trying to hide it's surprise. "_Somehow she arranged the food on her plate into a ritualistic symbol, then simply said the right words and caused the bathroom to explode."_

"But...why? How? This means she had magic _before _the apocalypse! Hell, maybe even before the merge! That wasn't even a spell either! How long has she been able to do stuff like this? And-and why didn't you know?!"

"_I told you, I wasn't paying attention! While she was blowing up the bathroom, I was probably just thinking to myself, completely unconcerned with what was happening!"_

"If you weren't paying attention, then how did we see that so clearly?"

"_My powers are...complicated."_

"More like your powers are bullshit." Meteora said, crossing her arms.

"_Yeah. You know what? They are. But who cares. Right now, we should figure out what to do next. Should we stay here, or go to another memory_

"Okay. Okay." Meteora said, trying to think. "If she got magic before this, then she had to come into contact with her magic teacher before this moment. We'll go to another memory. Do you have any memories of her before this one?"

"_A few."_

"Which ones? Tell me, because this time I don't want it to be random. I want to know what we're going into."

"_Well, I have one where she was babysitting you and Mariposa, one where she listened in to the meeting of the Mewnian royal family's, the time she was alone and she was talking to herself-"_

"That one." Meteora said.

"_Are you sure?" _The Voice asked.

"I'm sure." Meteora said. "I'm going to assume you weren't listening in to anything she was saying because you were bored, so this would be something new."

"_..."_

"Yeah, I'm right. Take us out of here."

The Voice did what Meteora said, and the scene vanished into darkness. Another room soon grew out of it, this one smaller and appearing to be a bedroom of some sort. If not a very odd one. It was covered in all sorts of weird things that looked like a cultists dream. It also looked like a place that Janna would love.

"Is this her bedroom?" Meteora asked.

"_Mm-hm. Looks exactly how you envisioned it, right?"_

"I never envisioned it." Meteora said. "But now that you mentioned it, yeah, this is probably what I thought it would look like."

"_I wasn't surprised either. Now, let's look at what we came here for. On the bed."_

Meteora looked at the bed and saw Janna sitting on it, mumbling to herself and staring into space.

"Oh, that's not creepy at all."

"_Actually, the thing that I found creepy was the things she was saying. Take a listen."_

Meteora leaned in to Janna to hear her mumbling. But it was just that: Mumbling. No words, no sentences, just incomprehensible noises that didn't make any kind of sense. She wasn't saying anything at all. It was just...nothing.

"So she's saying nothing?" Meteora asked, now even more creeped out than before. "What the hell?"

"_That was my reaction as well. This is the part where I tapped out. Stopped listening. I stayed here, but no longer heard anything she said. She simply...simply...hmmm. Give me a second."_

Meteora didn't respond. She simply continued to listen to Janna's mumbling. It still didn't sound like anything to her. Maybe it was some kind of foreign language? No, the Voice would probably know. Unless…

"Hey." She said. "Do you think she's speaking in another language?"

There was no answer.

"Are...you there?" She asked.

Once again, silence.

"Annnnnd you disappeared again." Meteora said. "Of course you did. Whatever. I'll just...oh. Oh, come on."

A wave of deja vu hit Meteora in the face as she looked to her right and saw a familiar, floating figure. The same one she had seen back at the meeting of the royal family's. The same one that she had touched, and then seemed to glitch out of existence.

Meteora cautiously approached Glossaryck, wearing a gigantic grin on his face and staring at her with unflinching, unmoving eyes. Like a statue.

Meteora took a deep breath. "So what's gonna happen this time? Huh?" She asked. "You gonna start acting weird again? Then just disappear?"

Statue Glossaryck didn't respond.

Meteora's eyes narrowed. "Oh screw it." She said, as she leaned forward and touched Glossaryck's forehead.

He sprang to life. Meteora sprang backwards, even though she had been expecting it. Just like last time, Glossaryck attempted to speak, but continued to sound like a broken record.

"Thi-this-this message, th-the-then I-I-I finally got through to you-you-you-you-" And on and on and on.

"Erghhh!" Meteora yelled one frustration. She walked over to Glossaryck and grabbed him, shaking him back and forth. "What are you trying to tell me?" She yelled. "Spit it out! Just...wait a second."

She let go of Glossaryck and stared down at her hands for a second, ignoring Glossaryck's rambling.

'What? How did I do that?' She thought. 'Didn't the Voice say that I wouldn't be able to touch anything in this realm, or something? And I couldn't! I tried to before, but my hand just passed through everything! What was so different about...Glossaryck. Dang it. Not again."

He was gone. Just like last time, Glossaryck had disappeared. Vanished into thin air. Other than Janna, who was still mumbling nonsense, Meteora was alone.

'I hope I'm not going crazy.' She thought. 'That's the last thing I need. Hold on. Didn't the last time Glossaryck appear, the Voice also disappeared? Does-does it have something to do with this? Or did he make Glossaryck disappear, and something else is making him come into existence? Just...what's going on?!"

"_Did you get anything from her?"_

Meteora snapped out of her own thoughts at the Voice's question, not even bothering to tell her it had returned.

"No." She said quickly. "No, I didn't get anything out of her. Where did you go?"

"_There was a problem. I took care of it. Like last time, at the royals meeting. They pop up sometimes."_

'That confirms it.' Meteora thought. 'The Voice left, and the _exact _same thing with Glossaryck happened a second later. Took care of a problem, eh? I wonder why Glossaryck would be so much of a problem…"

"Question." Meteora said.

"_What is it?"_

"What exactly is this problem?"

"_Oh. It's uh, it's a problem with my memories. Sometimes...events, can occur that I don't have control of at first, and things from other memories can get stuck in ones they're not supposed to be in. Why, did you see anything?"_

"Nope." Meteora said, feeling that it would be unwise to tell the truth. "I didn't see anything. Just a bunch of incoherent mumbling from Janna. She still hasn't said squat."

"_Mm. Well, perhaps I can find an earlier memory. See what led up to this one. She does seem to be in some sort of shock. Maybe something to do with her teacher? It's possible that she met him before this moment."_

"Wait. There's actually a memory that I want to look at." Meteora said.

"_Really? Which one?"_

"Do you think you have any more memories of her and Tom?"

"_I think I do, but why?"_

"Just...just do it."

"_Wait-"_

"Please." She said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"_O-okay." _The Voice said, now more concerned than confused. "_I think I got one."_

The bedroom vanished, furniture faded into nothing and Janna herself repacked by darkness. Out of the ground suddenly grew large trees, and the floor was replaced by a green carpet of grass. Several benches appeared, created out of nothing, and multiple people also came into being, although none of them were truly "alive", just animated by the Voice.

"_We're here." _It said. "_The main park in Echo creek. Janna is behind you, so can you tell me why-"_

"Shhh." Meteora said, shushing it. She turned around to see Janna and Tom together on a park bench, laughing at something. She didn't approach them. She simply stared at them, like an artist inspecting a painting. The Voice would have said something, but it couldn't form the words.

Out of nowhere, Meteora screamed in rage and charged at them. She went right through the bench as well as Janna and Tom, landing on her face on the ground beneath her. She quickly got up and looked back at them, now with a hatred filled state.

"_Okay, what the hell was tha-"_

"WHY?!" She screamed.

"_Ummm...why what?"_

"Why did she turn into that monster?!" Meteora said. "Look at her! Her she is, having fun with her boyfriend, happy as can be! What. In the FUCK. Happened to her?! Where did it go wrong?! How could she have turned into something like that? That's not who she is! That's not who's she's supposed to be! She's supposed to be the mischievous, sly person who plays tricks on people! Not a magic-using, cult leading murderer! Who's idea was that?! What kind of absolute idiot would turn someone like Janna into that?!"

"_I-I don't know."_ The Voice said. "_Just please calm down. Don't hurt yourself._"

"Yeah. Yeah okay. I'm calm. I'm calm. I'm...calm. Let's talk about something else. Something else...oh, I know! You know what Jenkins would call this whole situation? Just another thorn in his side. "Just another thorn in my side…" He would said. Just another thorn…"

The Voice, although to disturbed by her behavior. Played along with it in an attempt to calm her down. "_Of which he had very, very many." _It said. "_But don't think about it like that. He didn't treat all his problems like how he does now. Before the merge, he took care of them quickly, killing first and asking questions later. But he changed after it._

"How so?"

"_Well, after he realized that he would be stuck in this dimension with everyone else form Mewni, he tired to be friendlier. Make some friends. He wasn't always that nice to them before the merge._

"What were _they _like to him before the merge?"

"_Not sure. I wasn't there for that. But if I had to guess, then they were all just thorns, and Mewni was a rose bush."_

"What's a rose bush?"

"_What's a- how did you not know what a rose bush is?! It's type of plant! They were everywhere before the apocalypse! They...oh. Wait. Sorry about that."_

"Yeah, I don't see that many plants." Meteora said. "And if I do, most of them are dead. I've seen maybe a couple forests,, but those are far and few between. No grass lining the ground, hardly any leaves on the trees, they're all dead. I don't really know anything about plants. Much less those "rose bushes" you were talking about."

"_Do...you know what a bush is? Or a flower? Have you ever seen those things?"_

"If I had...then I didn't know what they were called at the time. I don't know what a bush is. I know what a flower is, but only from a few drawings from some books. In fact, that park we just saw was the first time I saw grass. Actual, living grass. I knew it was supposed to be green, but all I ever saw was dead grass. All the plants were dead."

"_That's...quite sad, actually."_

"Sure. But shouldn't you already know this? You've been spying on me for my whole...part, of my life. Still don't know squat about the other ones. Ms. Heinous or whatever…"

"_I do know all about it. But hearing you say it is somewhat different. You don't care. You had no emotion in you voice when you told me you didn't know anything about those plants. But as least you got to finally see them."_

"Sure." Meteora said. "But you wanna know what's really sad? I have to force myself to not have any emotions when I talk about that sort of stuff."

"_What do you mea-"_

"Do you think this is easy for me?" Meteora said. "To know about these things, to be taught about everything, about how it was before, and then being told I would never be able to experience it? I have literally cried myself to sleep when I was younger over that stuff. I don't know if you were paying attention, or even noticed it, but I was. Because I was sad. So sad that I would never be able to see those things. But then...this. The mind realm or whatever, where I can see the world, everything about it...you couldn't imagine how excited I was when you told me."

"_But...you were more confused at that moment."_

"Because that's what I wanted you to see." Meteora said. "You said that I needed to be strong, that I was going to save the world, so I had to force myself to be strong. To not give in to the temptation of looking at the old world. To not give in to any of it. To just look at what was necessary, and that's it. The first time we did this, I couldn't help it. That's why I walked around the town looking at everything. But after that, I didn't do it again. That's why I haven't done the communication spell with my mother. Because I didn't...because…"

Meteora dropped to her knees. "Who am I kidding?" She said. "I wasn't doing for any reason at all, was I? I was just doing it because I felt like I needed to be strong."

She looked back at Tom and Janna, tears forming in her eyes. "All this time. All this time I could have you take me to who knows where. Hell, to almost anywhere! Who knows where you've been! You did say that time is infinite in this place, so we wouldn't be losing anything! What have I been doing?! What...what…"

Meteora fell onto her back, and just laid there, no longer caring about anything.

"Actually, who cares anymore?" She said. "If I-no, if we can just look at your memories, basically explore the world, then why-"

"_Stop." _The Voice said. "_Stop this. I understand. I was wondering why you hadn't asked me to show you that sort of stuff earlier! But I see now. But that's also not what you have to do. Just because the world, and most people in it are trying to kill us, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try and enjoy yourself. I think I know what you need."_

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"_You need guidance. Advice on what to do next. But not from me. From someone else. Who's dealt with magical enemies before. Who's had to worry about actually dying in fight, unlike me."_

"Are you talking about Jenk-"

"_No. Not from him. Meteora, I'm talking about your mother."_

"My...my mother?"

"_Don't act surprised. Isn't that what you wanted all along? To finally talk to here? To finally get a chance to really meet her? My memories, ah, they're nothing but shadows of the past. They're real, but at the same time, fake. But that communication spell isn't. It's real. So cast it. Talk to her. Do what you always wanted to do. Stop acting like you need to be strong and restrain yourself, because you know that's not what you want."_

"You-you really think I should do it?" Meteora asked, her voice quivering.

"_Yes. You're already asleep, so do you remember the incantation?"_

"I do." Meteora said. "But don't I have to be in my butterfly form? And don't I have to say the words when I'm awake, and then fall asleep?

"_It's energy is coursing through you, even if you're not using it at the moment. No, it's okay. And for a spell like this one, it's probably better if you're asleep while doing it. Uses less energy."_

"That would have been nice to know from Dave's book."

Meteora said. "Okay. But one last thing. Will I actually be able to...touch her, or something? Like, I don't know, give her a hug? Or will my hand just pass straight through her like she's not even there?"

"_You will. Now, stop with any restraint. Do it."_

Without saying another word, Meteora closed her eyes and said the words to the spell as best she could, hoping that they were right. Once finished, she opened her eyes again.

Darkness.

"Did it work?" Meteora asked.

"_I think so. Maybe...oh. Oh my."_

"What is it?"

"Um, hello?" A voice from behind them said. "Who's there?"

Meteora froze up at this voice. She had heard it before. Back at the royals meeting. It was a voice she would never forget.

She turned. Her eyes widened, as did the eyes of the person she saw before her. They simply looked at each other, before Meteora spoke first.

"Mom?"

**End chapter 25**

**A/N: Well, that was an ending. (Cliffhanger.) next chapter is going to be fun to write, their little reunion is gonna be sweet. Hopefully.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments."**


	26. Chapter 26: The first Reunion

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 26**

**The first Reunion **

As if they were seeing a ghost.

That's how Meteora and Eclipsa were looking at each other, as if they had seen an apparition, and one of them had just spoken.

Meteora slowly opened her mouth and once again said, "Mom?"

After having overcome the initial shock, Eclipsa seemed to recover, and then spoke herself.

"Meteora?" She said, looking at her in disbelief. "I...wait. No. You-you can't be here. This is just...another one of those dreams, isn't it? Just another dream where I'm hallucinating you. One of those lucid dreams...just like all the others."

"_Ah." _The Voice said. "_Should have seen that one coming. Alright, here's what you're gonna do. You-"_

"No." Meteora whispered. "You stay quiet this entire time. I'm doing this one myself. No matter what."

"_...Got it."_

"Okay." Meteora said, bringing her attention back to Eclipsa, with the feeling of happiness, shock, and hope returning. "It's me mom. This may seem like a dream, but it's me. I used a communication spell that allowed me to talk to you while we were both sleeping."

Eclipsa stayed silent.

"I'm not a dream!" Meteora said desperately, tears forming in her eyes. After all this time, she couldn't let it all be for nothing now. "I'm real! I...wait. I know. Did you ever see me in my teenage years?"

"No…" Eclipsa said, confused as to why she hadn't woken up yet.

"Then how can you dream about something you hadn't ever seen?"

Eclipsa paused, staring back at her. Slowly but surely, realization came to her.

"Meteora?" She repeated, now frozen in shock.

"Yeah." Meteora said, tears forming in her eyes. "It's me. I'm here. I...finally found you."

They stood.

They ran towards each other.

They hugged, cried, and fell to the floor in joy.

Once both of them had overcome their immense happiness for a moment, Eclipsa grabbed Meteora's face and looked at her.

"It's...really you." She said joyfully. "Look at you. You're all grown up. I can't believe it. I…um...what happened to your ear?"

"Long story." Meteora said. "Everything is. There's so much I want to tell you. So much has happened, and so much is going on. Everything's a mess."

"Really?" Eclipsa said, with an amused smile on her face. "Just a mess? Lucky you. Where I'm at, it's multiple messes. At all times of the day."

"I'm willing to bet that's mine's worse." Meteora said.

Eclipsa chuckled at this, and then looked back at her. "Well, then why don't we see if that's true? Catch up? Or something. I don't...even know to do! This is all going so fast and I-"

"It's okay." Meteora said. "It is for me too. But...I think that's a good start."

"Right." Eclipsa said. "Let's just get off the floor first."

"Yeah. We should probably do that." Meteora said.

Both of them let go of each other (but only for a moment) and got off the ground. They both looked around for someplace to sit that wasn't the ground, only to realize that there was still just darkness.

"Nevermind. Let's just keep sitting down." Meteora said, which both her and Eclipsa did, taking a seat in the "floor" and looking at each other for a few moments.

Eclipsa then started crying again and smiled. "Sorry." She said, wiping her tears away. "I just can't believe you're really here. After all this time. After everything. I just have so many questions."

"Well, get comfortable." Meteora said. "Because there's a lot to explain. Also, sorry that we don't really have someplace to sit. This spell doesn't really allow for great meeting places. I think it takes place in the mind realm or whatever the Voice called it."

"Spell? Mind realm? Voice?" Eclipsa said, one question after another. She paused, then sighed. "I've missed a lot, haven't I?"

"More than you know…" Meteora said. "Although I take it I've missed a lot as well. Who knows what you've been up to."

"Not that much actually." Eclipsa said. "The group I'm with have just been staying in one place for a little over a decade. Once we managed to make it permanently livable, we thought it would be best for everyone to stay there."

"Forever?" Meteora asked.

"Maybe." Eclipsa said. "I don't really know much about what we plan to do next. We take in any survivors, help them out, do whatever we can. We've been trying to expand...but it hasn't been going well."

"Yeesh." Meteora said, not even able to imagine staying in one place for years. "That's exactly the opposite of what I've been doing. I've been on the move for what seems like forever, never staying in one place for too long. Me and the others like it that way. Makes it easier to find stuff, to survive."

"The others?" Eclipsa asked. "So it's not just you then?"

"It's definitely not." Meteora said. "There are two other people with me. Mariposa, Marco's sister, is with me. She's fine and well."

"Really?" Eclipsa said, her eyes widening. "She's with you? Well, that's terrific! Marco will be so happy when I feel him. He's been beating himself up for years over that. I hate to see him that way, which is all the time."

"So Marco is with you." Meteora said. "Yeah, Jenkins figured that you guys would all find each other and just stay in one big group. Makes sense, especially when-"

"Back up." Eclipsa said. "Did you just say _Jenkins_? The leader of that Earth defense force? He's with you? We all thought he was dead!"

"No, but we've all gotten close to death over a dozen times. He um...he raised me and Mariposa. He protected us and taught us everything we know."

"Oh my god…" Eclipsa said. "He seriously _raised _you? I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like. Never saw him as a person willing to be a father…"

"Yeah, it's been...interesting." Meteora said. "But he was a good dad, I guess. He told us from the start that he wasn't our real father. He told us all about you guys. He promised us that we would find you, and it would be a nice loving reunion. Or something like that."

"Glad he told you the truth." Eclipsa said, nodding in slight approval. "In fact, that's actually kind of impressive. Taking care of two babies for years out there. But you also said he protected you?"

"Yup. From anything and everything." Meteora said. "He did a damn good job of it too. Until recently, we rarely had to fight people. He did all that. But...every once in a while, no matter how many attacks he prevented from hitting us…" She pointed to her bandaged ear. "...One always got through."

"Oh dear." Eclipsa said, looking extremely saddened at this. "How many times has-"

"A couple." Meteora said. "I have a few scars. Still remember what caused them. Still remember _who _caused them. Jenkins literally tore those people apart. But it was always inevitable to get hurt out there. Hell, my ear wound I got no more than maybe...a week or so ago? I was shot by some crazy monster! But then again, I had also just blown up his truck…"

"S-shot?!" Eclipsa said, her tone a mixture of anger and confusion. (But mostly anger.) "Somebody shot you?!"

"Yeah." Meteora said, nodding her head. "It hurt. A lot. But don't worry, the guy that did it is dead."

"Jenkins "tore him apart" then?" Eclipsa asked.

"Actually...no." Meteora said. "I killed him."

Eclipsa was taken aback by this. "You? You killed him?"

The second after Eclipsa said this, Meteora got countless flashbacks of all the deaths she had seen. So many people. Murderers, victims, scavengers, people just trying to survive in their own way. Then she remembered just how much of it she had seen in the past few days. Just yesterday she had attacked Janna's convoy and personally fried dozens of her lackey priests. But she didn't regret that. Why didn't she?

'Is she gonna see me as a monster?' Meteora thought to herself. 'A heartless killer? She's probably hasn't ever had it kill anyone out here. I could tell from the tone in her voice. But me...there's just so many. So many I've killed, burnt, blown up, stabbed, all because I did what I thought was right. How many have I even killed? Back at Drosid's castle, all those demons that died from the exploding tank, how many was that?! A hundred? Two hundred? What have I-"

"Are you okay?" Eclipsa asked, breaking Meteora out of her head.

"What?"

"You're...you're crying. You were just sitting there thinking to yourself and then you started crying."

Meteora put her hand up to her eyes and wiped away the tears, before looking up at her mother.

"No. I'm not okay." Meteora said. "Mom...I've killed so many people. So many weak, homicidal, evil people. Dozens of them. All because they're trying to take our supplies, or kill us, or some combination of the two. It...it doesn't feel good."

"Oh Meteora…" Eclipsa said, tearing up again. "You did those things to survive, didn't you? I know you're not a killer. I know Jenkins wouldn't raise you as one. I know my daughter, even if I never saw her grow up."

"Wouldn't raise us as one?" Meteora said. "How to kill people properly and quickly was one of the first things Jenkins taught us. I know a dozen different ways to kill someone in under five seconds. I mean, I don't use this that much considering I'm insanely strong, but still, there's no subject I know more about than death."

Eclipsa put her face in her hands. "Okay, I'm going to yell at him if we ever see each other for doing that, even if it could be considered necessary for living out there. But like I just said, you don't want to kill. It's not what you are."

"But does it matter?!" Meteora yelled. "Sometimes I wonder if any of those deaths will matter later on. Will any of those people be remembered? We just leave their bodies where we kill them! It's...it's horrible."

"Meteora…" Eclipsa started. "It's okay. I understand that you have to do things to live out there. I can't even imagine what it must have been like. Seeing all the things you've seen-"

"I saw Mariposa bash a child's head in with a rock until his brains were nothing but a mushy paste at like, 10 years old." Meteora said. "Just to protect me. I've seen hundreds of people burn to death at once. I've seen so much death that I've become numb to it. In fact, last night, just a few hours ago, I single handedly killed like two dozen people. But why? They kidnapped Jenkins and Mariposa. Yeah, they were probably murdering psychos. But they were just following orders as well. They didn't choose to die there."

"But you know what?" Eclipsa said. "They chose to kidnap Jenkins and Mariposa, like you said. Meteora, if someone had kidnapped you, then I likely wouldn't have shown them much mercy either. Please don't blame yourself for all this. Even if you killed all those people, it was because you didn't have a choice. Was it terrible? Yes. But did you have any other choice in that situation? I'm going to guess the answer is no."

Meteora paused at this, and then nodded, finally understanding that her mother was right. She looked back up at her and spoke up. "Ha-have you ever killed anyone?" She asked her. "Did you ever have to take a life?"

Eclipsa inhaled sharply. "No." She said. "I never had too. Whenever we found somebody else, they either joined our group, or ran off because our group was...quite a large one. We never really had any confrontations. The few times we did, we made sure not to kill anybody."

Meteora, now in a seemingly better mood, looked down at the ground with a small smile in the corner of her mouth. "Then you're lucky. I've seen so many confrontations. A group of only three people doesn't usually dissuade an attack."

"I suppose it wouldn't…" Eclipsa said. "But may I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?" Meteora asked.

"You just said that last night you killed two dozen people because they had kidnapped Jenkins and Mariposa. How...exactly did you do that?"

"Oh…" Meteora said. "This part...that's gonna take a lot of explaining. Maybe I should start from the beginning.

Okay, you know how magic was destroyed when the magic realm was?"

"Yes…" Eclipsa said, sounding uncertain.

"Well, it wasn't." Meteora said. "Not at all. Just recently, I learned that magic was still around, spells are still usable, and I'm one of the people that can use them."

Eclipsa froze, not moving a muscle. She look at Meteora with blank, expressionless eyes, and then slowly spoke.

"I-you...what?" She said, trying to find the right words. "Magic...is still around?"

Meteora nodded. "Yeah, I was pretty surprised too. Especially after being told for years that it was gone. Then one day, I learned that "hey! Magic is still around! Somebody just tried to kill you with it!" Which is...uh, exactly how I found out. Somebody had magic, and they tried to kill us. But more on them later. So one or two days after that, that weird voice in my head tells me to-"

"Wait a minute." Eclipsa said, getting tired of having to ask so many questions. "A weird voice in your head?"

"Yeah…" Meteora said, looking to the side. "It's another long story. I guess I should tell you it before I tell you more about magic. So a couple weeks ago, I had just fallen asleep, and then I was contacted by this bodyless level three being, who told me-"

"Level three?!" Eclipsa said, getting more confused by the moment. "Sorry for interrupting again, but what's a level three being? What does that mean?"

"I'll...explain that too." Meteora said. "God, there's some much to explain. So, this being told me some stuff that I don't remember. I got a skull fracture a while ago, and while it's fully healed now, I think some of my memories were damaged, and now I can't really remember my first few encounters with this guy. But it told me what happened, and it apparently said that it was a friend and wanted to help me the first time we met. Which...has seemed to true so far."

"Where is this being now?" Eclipsa asked. "Is it in your head right now?"

"Yeah." Meteora said. "It's always there now. Seeing everything I do, talking to me, helping me out with magic stuff, being annoying at times, but usually it's pretty helpful."

"Is there any way I could talk to it?" Eclipsa requested. "I'd like to speak to this being, if it's seeing everything you do. See if it can really be trusted…"

"I'm sure it can." Meteora said. "Although that won't work. Jenkins already asked me once if he could, and the Voice, which is what I call it, said it can't. Also because it didn't want to. Plus, it also said…" Meteora suddenly stopped talking, as if something she had said made her realize something else.

"Said what?" Eclipsa asked.

Meteora stayed silent for a moment, then put on an expression that made it look like she was deep in thought. "Maybe you can." She said. "It wasn't able to talk to Jenkins because he was in the real world, although this that we're in the mind realm, I think it should be able to."

She then spoke to the Voice, whispering under her breath. "Hey, you. You can talk. Did you hear what my mom aske-"

"_I did."_ The Voice said, happy to finally be allowed to get a word in. "_And yes, if we're playing by the rules of this place, then I can manipulate the spell to a degree where I can allow myself to manifest. Like our first meetings, when I was still stuck in here."_

"That's good." Meteora said, earning a puzzled look from Eclipsa. "So, can you just that right now?"

"_Yeah, give me a second."_

Meteora felt the sensation of the Voice leaving her head, like a minor burning pain that quickly turned to ice, and then it was gone.

"Why are you talking to yourself?" Eclipsa asked. "Or are you talking to that-"

"I was talking to that voice. Which should be able to talk to you now." Meteora said, looking up at nothing. "Hey! Did it work?"

"_Yes. I'm here." _The Voice said, it's word thundering throughout the area. Meteora got flashbacks of the previous visits she had, (well, the ones she could remember), while Eclipsa jumped back in shock.

"Ah. Good. It worked." Meteora said. "So mom...now you talk."

Eclipsa calmed herself down and looked up, then to the side, not sure where to look. "Ummm…" She started. "So are you this voice that's living in my daughters head?"

"_That's one way of putting it." _The Voice responded. "_But yes. That's me. Just like she said, I have been helping her and guiding her through things for the past week and a half. Actually hasn't been that long…"_

"Yeah, but you've been watching me for years!" Meteora said. "Before the apocalypse, that's what you said…"

"_Maybe one year. It wasn't that long."_

"You've been watching her for _years_?" Eclipsa asked, stunned at its claims, as well as Meteora backing them up.

"_One year!" _The Voice said. "_It wasn't even planned. I wouldn't have if I wasn't forced to stay in this dimension. You know that. Unless your losing more of your memories again…?"_

"No, I'm fine." Meteora said. She looked at Eclipsa. "So, before you ask, the Voice was on Earth when the destruction of magic happened, which caused it to get stuck there. It's been there for a while, and kept an eye on me, believing that I was the key to reuniting the three species of Earthni and...saving everyone, or something. It's kind of cheesy."

"_It's brilliant!" _The Voice yelled. "_It would have worked too, if the apocalypse hadn't come along and ruined it all. But now, there's still a chance to get rid of all the hatred, even with just the few remaining people."_

"So…" Eclipsa pointed at Meteora. "Your plan is to use Meteora to unite humans, Mewmans, and monsters? I don't think that's necessary. Every single person I've met is completely fine with everybody. Even people that used to be incredibly racist towards monsters are now caring towards them. All it needs is the realization that we're all the same inside."

"_But...that's what I'm saying." _The Voice stated. "_She is the best way to show people that. Your union with Globgor proved made something that should have showed people that there's no need for any hatred or bigotry."_

"Yes, well, ironically," Eclipsa said. "My union with Globgor was seen as horrendous by most Mewmans at the time. If anything, it just caused more strain."

"_That was three hundred years ago. Everybody on Mewni that lived back then except for you three are dead now. Well, except for maybe a couple Septarians, but that doesn't matter. They won't matter. Not when Meteora has her butterfly form and can crush anything in her way…"_

If Eclipsa was drinking anything, she would have spit it out in shock, stunned at the news she had just heard.

"You...you have your butterfly form?" She asked Meteora. "The mewberty form?"

"Wait, is that what's it's called? I thought it was just called the butterfly form."

"_Nah, I only called it that because I liked how that sounded. Also because you never went through traditional mewberty, and so you didn't really gain it that way."_

"Hm. True." Meteora said, before turning her attention back to Eclipsa. "But...yeah. I can do that now. I literally just...unlocked it, I guess you could say, just a few hours ago."

"I...cannot express how proud of you I am. To think that you did all this. To think of all the things you can do...it's amazing."

"_Yeah, but it was one hell of a gamble the way she got it. She jumped off a cliff so she could save Jenkins and Mariposa without even being sure if it would work. I genuinely thought that she was going to become a splatter on the ground until she actually got it."_

"Hey, but it still worked." Meteora said. "Besides, did _you _have any other ideas in that situation?"

"_...No."_

Meteora smiled. "Exactly. Everything worked out. So far, at least. Hopefully something terrible doesn't happen to Jenkins and Mariposa while I'm here, because more people to kill is the last thing we need. I'm still feeling a little tired from that attack I staged earlier."

"_You shouldn't be tired like that. Feelings like tiredness won't transfer from the real world to this one._

"Meaning…?"

"_Meaning...well, you two just keep talking. But warn me if you start feeling more tired, and definitely want me if you feel like you're about to fall asleep."_

"Right. Yeah, okay. So mom, what were we talking about earlier? Before we got into the Voice stuff?"

"I believe you were telling me more about magic…" Eclipsa said. "Mainly how and why it's still around."

"Ah, right. So, I was contacted by the Voice, a level three being, of which there are five levels, measuring how powerful sentient beings are, and thenit talked to me." Meteora said, quickly shoving in an explanation of the five levels and of beings, which Eclipsa seemed to mostly understand. "It told me that it was a friend, already told you that, and then appeared in my dreams for a few nights after that, talking to me. Eventually, it asked me to let itself into my mind, which would allow it to be there at all times. I said yes, and now it's living in my head! Slightly annoying, yes, but it makes for a much better mode of communication."

"So this thing just see everything you do then?" Eclipsa asked. "That's not weird at all?"

Meteora scratched the side of her cheek and her eyes darted to the right. "Ah, well, it can "go" somewhere else when I...want it to, but other than that, yeah, it sees and hears everything I do. But it's useful. It's actually given me some pretty good advice. About how to deal with the Underworld war, and how to stop Drosid…"

Eclipsa paused. "You know what, I'm not even going to bother with an Underworld war or whoever this Drosid is right now. Just keep telling me about magic. Don't change the subject."

"Good idea." Meteora said. "So, as far as I know, magic is still around because-"

"_Perhaps it would be best if I answered this." _The Voice said, interrupting her. "_I do know exactly why."_

"Fine." Meteora said. "You go. Take it away."

"_Very well. So, magic did get destroyed. The magic dimension collapsed into nothing. But magic is durable, and rather stubborn when it comes to dying, like most things. Magic was still contained in atomic form, so small that no one would notice it. No one did because the amount of energy and willpower it would take to cast a spell is enormous, much higher than most people's."_

"Wait, so could _I _cast a spell?" Eclipsa asked. "I never really got the hand of wandless magic, but I feel like I could try and learn it."

"_You could…" _The Voice answered, sounding interested at the idea. "_But don't get too far ahead of yourself. Like I just said, the enemy and willpower needed is vast. It's possible you could collapse from exhaustion before you even cast it."_

"Wait, but I've been able to cast spells just fine." Meteora said. "I get tired, sure, but that's not form trying to cast it. I'm only tired afterward."

"_You're half monster. Your monster half gives you extra strength and endurance needed to do that. Monsters are able to easily cast spells if they can learn the techniques. It would be much harder for any humans or Mewmans. So Eclipsa, you don't have that ability. I would not recommend trying to cast anything. It could cost you your life if you're not careful. You'll collapse, and then your heart will stop. The end."_

"Fair enough." Eclipsa said, looking rather discouraged by this. "But could anyone else in my group use magic? Because you know I'm going to tell them. There's no way I'm not going to tell them everything."

"That reminds me…" Meteora said. "My turn for a question, and then back to you. How many people are with you? Who else is in your group? We kind of need to know that first."

Eclipsa took a deep breath. "A lot. Quite a lot. Umm...Me, your father, Moon, and…wait, should I continue, or will you not know who those people are?"

"I'm gonna know." Meteora said confidently. "Trust me, Jenkins told me and Mariposa everything about everyone. I know those names like the back of my head. Moon is Star's mother. Hmm, is Star with you? Out of everybody, I hear the most about her. Except for you. I was taught everything about you…"

"Well, I hope it was enough." Eclipsa said. "But yes. She's here. She and Marco are together as a couple. They've been that way for a couple years."

"Really? Those two?" Meteora said, not really posing it as a question. "Hm, well, good for them. Still hate Marco for some reason, but good for them anyways. Who else is with you?"

Eclipsa thought about it for a moment. "Hmmm...there's also a few of the royal family's, a good amount of humans, Mewmans and monsters, a few monsters who were part of a group Buff frogs was in…before we got separated from a few days into the apocalypse. We don't know where he is."

Meteora looked down. "Oh...we found out. We know that happened to him."

Eclipsa perked up. "Really? Where is he? Are his children okay?"

Meteora paused for a few moments, hesitating to say what Mariposa told her earlier. "He...he…" She took a deep breath. "He died. Mariposa told me. She met Katrina, one of his daughters, and she told Mariposa that, who then told me later on."

Eclipsa froze. Buff frog...the person who redeemed himself from being one of Ludo's monsters, the person who helped them when he could, the person who Eclipsa could call a friend...was gone. She had hoped that he was still alive out there, but he wasn't. Now he was just another victim of the hellscape that remained of the world.

"W-well…" She said softly. "At least his children are all okay…"

Meteora bit her lip and looked away.

"No." Eclipsa said, getting a horrified look in her eyes. "Don't tell me that-"

"They're...um…" Meteora started. "Some of them are alive. Apparently some of the monsters were immune to the radiation, but while some of Buff frogs kids were, most of them were not. All but a few of them died. It wasn't pretty."

Once again, Eclipsa froze in place, remembering everything. She remembered the day that she had met Buff frogs children. He was so happy, so proud, and they were so nice, and so happy to see her. They seemed like the sweetest little things back then. But now...they were gone. And they took the happiness with them.

Eclipsa looked down at the ground. "You know."

She said, her voice deadpan. "No matter how many times I see this formula, I can never get used to it. So much death, so much killing, all in horrible and terrible ways. You're actually lucky. You grew up with all of it. You got used to it all. Most of us...we're still recovering, even after a decade and a half."

Meteora rubbed her arm and her expression turned into a morose one. "Who...who didn't make it?" She asked. "Who didn't survive to the point you're at?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yeah." Meteora said. "I think I've been ready to know that for a long time."

"Very well. There was...quite a few deaths early on. Many of the royals died. The entire Spiderbite family, the entire Avarius family, except for Ludo, who disappeared to go live by himself years ago. Most of the Ponyhead family died, and as for the Lucitors...they're stuck in the Underworld."

'Actually no.' Meteora thought. 'But I'll mention that later. There's something I want to know first.'

"Is River dead?"

"River?"

"Yeah, Star's dad. The Johansen guy or something. Did he die?"

"He didn't." Eclipsa answered. "He's still alive and well, and does most of the heavy lifting around here. It's been quite useful."

'Then that confirms it. Janna was bullshitting us.' Meteora thought. 'Back at her little mountain base, she told us that River had died protecting her and a bunch of others. So she was just making that up. Hmm, why would she do that? I don't understand exactly what the benefit would be. Unless her "master" ordered her too. Wait, didn't the Voice just say that it was much harder for humans to cast spells? How can she even-'

"So yeah, quite a few people died. But everyone else is most alive." Eclipsa said, making Meteora snap back to attention. But there still are a lot of people missing. Janna, who's one of Star's friends, Archibald, my butler, and the other monsters from the monster temple, and Mrs. and Mr. Diaz. They vanished after the bombs hit."

"I know what happened to two of those people." Meteora said. "Both are alive, but one turned out okay, and the other...didn't. But first, Mariposa's parents are really missing? They're gone?"

"Unfortunately." Eclipsa said. "We found no sign of them. Marco still hasn't given up hope, but I'm sad, and ashamed to admit that most of us have stopped searching for them. We just have no idea where they could be."

"Damn it." Meteora cursed. "I was really hoping they would be with you. Now I have to tell Mariposa that. It's going to be so unfair to her. Here I am, talking to my mother, while _both _her parents are gone! Probably dead!"

"Now now." Eclipsa said. "You don't know that they're-"

"Jenkins once told me that if a person isn't found _immediately _after going missing, they're either dead, or never coming back from where they went. And looking back at all I've seen out there, he's probably right…"

"Okay, first, that's bad advice." Eclipsa said. "Second, that's only the philosophy in the apocalypse, not the world before it, so don't believe the world was like that. Third, once again, that doesn't mean they're dead. They could be just like you you know! Wandering around out there, trying to find somebody."

"Oh, we've found plenty of people, and based on what I've seen, and what Jenkins told me about them, their only hope for survival to to join another group. I'm sorry if it sounds mean, but I'm pretty positive about it. Some people...just aren't capable enough to survive out there."

Eclipsa growled at Meteora, looking slightly disappointed in her. "You shouldn't think that way. People always find a way to get back to others. You did. You're here. Not in a million years would I think you would find me again like this. But it happened anyways. So you know what? That mean you just gotta...believe."

Meteora made a "psh" sound and rested her chin on her hands. "Oooooh, the power of believing." She said, making fun of it. "But fine. We'll see. But what should I tell Mariposa? I'm not entirely sure how's she gonna react to this, but I know it's gonna be bad."

"You tell her the truth." Eclipsa said. "She won't hate you for it. And if she does, she'll forgive you. You've been living together your whole lives, yes? So tell her. Keeping it a secret will make it worse."

"I didn't all to keep it. But okay. I'll trust you. I'll "believe"."

Meteora then stood up for a moment to stretch herself, before her legs suddenly collapsed out from under her, and she fell to the ground.

"Agh!" She yelled, painfully sitting back down as Eclipsa stared at her, confused. "What the hell was that?"

"Yeah, I was about to ask the same thing." Eclipsa said, looking at Meteora strangely. "What exactly was that? You just got up then fell down."

"I...don't know." Meteora responded. "It just felt like my legs couldn't hold up the weight of my body, and I just couldn't keep myself up."

"_Oh shit." _The Voice said. "_Yeah, that's bad."_

"How so?" Meteora asked. "What's happening?"

"_Well, remember that I said this spell takes a very large amount of energy to cast, and a very large amount of energy to make sure you can keep talking with whoever you cast it on. It's been a while, and your body's starting to give out. If you don't leave soon, you'll die from exhaustion."_

"What?! N-no!" Meteora said. "I still have so much to talk about! It hasn't been that long at all! I'm not leaving!" She attempted to get back up again, but she toppled to the ground again, unable to keep herself up.

"This proves nothing!" She said. "I'm fine!"

"_No, you're not, and I'm erious. You will leave soon." _The Voice said, it's tone switched to a demanding one. "_I know how important this is to you, but if you die, then it'll have all been for nothing."_

"But...but…" Meteora said.

"No, it's right." Eclipsa said. "As sad as I am as well, I don't want you to risk your life so we can keep talking."

"Mom, I risk my life on a daily basis." Meteora said. "I've fought armies of demons, homicidal magic evil priests, and tons of other crazy things. I can take this."

"But you can't fight your own body." Eclipsa said. "It's okay. We can talk later. As long as you remember that spell, you can just talk to me in my sleep whenever I want! It's going to turn out okay."

"_Actually…" _The Voice said. "_It's not that simple. You're going to need to take a long time for your body and magic to recharge after using the spell for this long. While in the real world, you'll feel regular after a few hours of being exhausted, you're going to need to wait at least a week before you cast this spell again."_

"Wha-what?!" Meteora screamed in anger. "That's...that's...I don't even know! Words can't describe it! Why is that a thing?!"

"_Look, I don't make the rules. But this spell was not meant to be used for this long. I'm sorry, but you can't use it for a while. It's effects will take its toll on you, even if you don't feel it. I'm sorry, but if you cast us again, say, a day or so from now, you'll be dead before you even get to Eclipsa. A week is a safe bet, I think."_

"ERGHGH!" Meteora yelled in anger, before turning to Eclipsa. "Okay, screw it. Quickly, one last question. Don't react to it at all, don't ask any questions, just give me a plain answer. So, I'm heading at what remains of Echo creek. We've lived there for a while, and we're going back to the Underworld to fight in a crazy demon war that we got involved in. Where are you?"

As much as Eclipsa wanted to know everything about those events, she knew that time was of the essence. "I'm at a relatively large community of people a few hundred miles west of that. Just go west, starting from the front gate of the Butterfly castle. Keep going that way, and that's what direction we're in."

"Got it. Go west. Butterfly castle gate." Meteora said.

"_Time to go." _The Voice said. "_You can either cancel the spell yourself, or I can make you."_

"Wait!" Meteora said, looking back at her mother for one last time. "I'll find you." She said. "I promise. No matter what."

Eclipsa nodded, a small tear going down here cheek. "I know. I'll be waiting." The two then embraced in a tight hug, then let go of each other.

"_Alright, we're cutting it too close. I'm canceling the spell."_

"Ah! No! I just remembered!" Meteora said. "Mom, whatever you do, if you find Janna, or if she finds you, don't trust her, she's-"

"_We have to go now!"_

In a flash, Meteora felt herself being pulled away from Eclipsa, who vanished into the surrounding darkness a moment later. She felt like she was falling through the air, until she hit the ground and lay there for a moment, groaning.

"_My god, that was risky. Only a little while longer and-"_

"Why did you take me out?!" Meteora yelled. "I had to tell her about Janna! What if she comes across my mom? I had to warn her! She doesn't know she's alive and evil!"

"_Meteora, put your hand on your chest."_

"What? No, I-"

"_DO IT." _The Voice ordered.

Meteora stopped complaining for a second, and slowly obeyed it's command. She put her hand up to her chest and felt her heartbeat, going a mile a minute.

"Whoa." She said. "That's going...dangerously fast."

"_Yeah, you were seconds away from dying back there. That's why I got rid of the spell. I had to do it right there and then, or you would have died."_

"I didn't really feel like I was about to." Meteora said. "I just felt a little tired."

"_Spells are tricky things, hm?" _The Voice said. "_You were probably too distracted anyways. But...I am sorry for having to cut the meeting with your mother short. And I am sorry that you'll have to wait so long to talk to her again._"

"I…" Meteora paused. "No. It's okay. I understand. It's not your fault. But at least we have a good idea of where she is. Where everybody is. I mean, how long have we been waiting for that information? This is it! After the Underworld war is taken care of, we're going back to the surface and heading straight there!"

"_A good plan. But don't forget to tell Jenkins and Mariposa. And tell Mariposa about her parents…"_

Meteora's face dropped. "I don't want to, but I know I have to. Still sucks though."

"_Most things suck. But why wait any longer? Wake up. Tell them. Then go back to Echo creek and to the Underworld war. End this."_

"Right." Meteora said, feeling slightly inspired. "Wake me up."

The darkness was replaced with light, and Meteora closed her eyes and opened them, now back in the seat of Janna's (now _their) _truck.

Jenkins noticed this immediately. "You're awake." He said. "You know, you were just talking in your sleep a lot. I couldn't hear it, but it sounded like some kind of conversation. Must have been one crazy dream, huh?"

Meteora smiled. "It was no dream." She then looked over at Mariposa and tapped the side of her head, which she responded to by opening one eye and muttering a groggy, "What?"

Now having all their attention, Meteora prepared to deliver all news she had gotten.

"I know where we're going after the war…"

**End chapter 26.**

**A/N: I hope this was a nice chapter, and lived up to some kind of expectation. **

**But now we have a final destination, don't we? But get too excited too soon. We're not going to go straight to the Underworld. The Voice is not done yet. It has to have everything fall into place. Next chapter, it's true intentions will bring to shine through. To us, at least.**

**And a little reveal that Star and Marco are together. It took 26 chapters for Starco to become official.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave review if you have any questions or comments.**


	27. Chapter 27: Kill the messenger(s)

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 27**

**kill the messenger(s)**

"So let me get this straight." Jenkins said, having stopped the truck and looking over at Meteora with a shocked expression. "You talked to your mother using that dream spell, you know where she is, and she's with a bunch of other people that we know and they're all fine and dandy."

"That...is exactly what I said, yes." Meteora responded, having only the slightest amount of pride on her face.

Jenkins leaned back in his seat and rubbed his hand through his scalp, stunned by what Meteora has just told him. "Then...that's it then! That's everything! We finally have a destination! We know where they are. Well, loosely, but we know what direction to go!"

"I know!" Meteora said, excited. "That was my reaction as well! It just...really sucks that we have to go and fight in the Underworld war…"

"True." Jenkins said. "But we can't abandon everyone down there. No matter what we think we should do otherwise." He looked over at Mariposa. "What about you Mariposa? What do you think about all this? We'll finally get to see everybody!"

Mariposa glared at him, clutched her legs to her chest, and buried her face in her knees. "Not _everybody._" She mumbled. "Meteora said that my parents were still missing."

Jenkins turned away from her and pretended to be distracted by something outside the truck. "I...um, well, you know, maybe they're-"

"It's fine." Mariposa said, even though it obviously wasn't. "I know you haven't always been one for consoling. I know that they might still be out there, or they might not. But I guess I'll just have to see. Because as mean as it sounds, I can't spend time thinking about them. in the end, I still have you guys to care about, I still have my brother to care about now that I know he's alive, and we still have a war to win."

Jenkins nodded, even though inside he was more grateful then he had ever been that Mariposa didn't really seem to care. She was right. He never had been one for consolation. Last time he tried that, he had only made it worse.

"Then let's go win that war." He said, glancing over at Meteora. "With you and that butterfly form, I bet it won't last long when they see you. Hoping for a couple desertions from Drosid's army!"

"Don't get your hopes up." Meteora said. "While I can probably take out a bunch of demons like you said, I feel like Drosid himself won't be a pushover. It's gonna take a lot more than a few simple spells to kill him."

"I still think-"

"She's right." Mariposa said. "Back at his castle, when he found me and grabbed my throat, his skin didn't feel like skin. It felt like it was made of metal. Like iron. He felt like the kind of guy who could punch a hole straight through a guys chest."

"He actually did…" Jenkins said. "Back at the battle of Lucitor castle, he literally punched a hole in someone and tore their heart out."

"Case in point." Mariposa said, leaning against the truck window. "So don't get near him if you don't have too Meteora. Just...launch a bunch of spells at him or something. Don't get in a physical fight with him, because he would totally beat you."

"While normally I would argue with you," Meteora said. "In this case I don't think I you're right as well. He's the leader of an entire army of demons. Well, more of a small group now, but he was. Anybody in a position like that should always be taken seriously. Also, I feel like demons are awarded rank based on how strong they are, not by intelligence or anything else."

"Hey, remember where I was basically in control of the whole world?" Jenkins asked, grinning at them both.

"Yeah, but that wasn't because you were strong." Mariposa said. "You got there by working your way up, slowly. I'm betting Drosid got there by killing the former leader."

Jenkins leaned back in his chair and frowned. "Not slowly, and definitely not by working my way up…" He mumbled, too soft for anyone else or hear it.

"But as I was saying," Meteora continued. "Yeah, I won't take Drosid on like that. Maybe the Voice can teach me a spell that could take him out in one blow."

"_Not one that wouldn't exhaust your body so much that you'd die as well."_

Meteora's face dropped, and she slowly shook her head at no one in particular. "Actually, nevermind, that's not happening."

"Let me guess, that voice just told you that there isn't a spell for that?" Jenkins quickly surmised. "Really wish that I could hear it as well, I'd _love _to hear what it was saying."

"Maybe you can." Meteora said. "The spell that I use on my mother made it-"

"_Don't say anything! I don't want to speak to him. All he'd do is ask me more questions, and we've had far too many of those lately. Plus, do you really want to waste your once a week spell on that?"_

Meteora thought about this for a moment, and then shrugged. "Uh, forget what I just said. It's...not possible."

"Sure Meteora." Jenkins said, completely unconvinced. "Sure. But whatever. Now, how about we get back on the road? We still got a lot of ground to cover."

Both Meteora and Mariposa responded to this by giving him a thumbs-up, and then fell back in their chairs. Jenkins started the ignition, and soon they were in there way yet again, passing by the same damn scenery over and over again.

'Look at it all.' Meteora thought to herself. 'How much of this was normal land before the bombs? How much of it we're forests? Neighborhoods? Deserts? Now it's just the multiverses biggest waste of space. Why...wait. I feel like I've been here before. Have I been here before? Thinking about why everything sucks? How many times have I done that? Tens? Hundreds? Thousands of times? Yeah, thousands sound right. After all, I have one out to think about when it comes to life sucking…'

She turned towards Jenkins and impatiently stared at him. "How long until we get there?" She asked. "I'm already bored out of my mind."

"Oh no." Jenkins said, not out of worry but more out of a "you're not doing that" kind of tone. "Don't ask that question. And especially don't ask, "are we there yet". Just go back to sleep. We at least got a couple more hours. I don't know how long Janna was driving in the opposite direction, but I do know that it lasted almost the entire night. So, like I said, get comfortable and go back to sleep. Unless...you wanna take the wheel? Perfect opportunity to learn how to drive. Flat, endless road."

"No thanks." Meteora said. "I can fly now. No need for that ever again."

"If you say so. What about you Mariposa?" Jenkins aksed, peering over his seat to look at her. "You wanna tr-"

"Yes". Mariposa said, not skipping a beat. "I got nothing better to do, so let me at it. But if I crash, then-"

"Nothing to crash into for miles." Jenkins said. "It's empty road. The only way you'd crash into something is if you were trying to." Jenkins tools the keys out and turned off the truck, while Mariposa climbed into the front and got into the driver's seat, with Jenkins looming over it.

"Okay, first thing you wanna do, is take the keys and put them in the ignition." He said, giving her the keys. "Then you gotta-"

It was at this point that Meteora tuned out entirely, turning the other way and gazing out the window at nothing. A minute or so later, they were back on their way, with Mariposa shakily driving the truck down the road.

"Don't turn the wheel too far...DON'T TURN IT TOO FAR!" Jenkins yelled in panic, now greatly regretting giving Mariposa the chance to drive. "Geez, now I feel a lot more respect for driving instructors…"

"Hey, this isn't easy for me." Mariposa complained. "I'm pretty sure that if society was still a thing, I wouldn't even be old enough to get lessons. You offered it up. I-CRAP!"

Mariposa suddenly swerved the truck to the right, slamming Meteora's head into the window and throwing Jenkins to the other side of the back seat. She slammed on the brakes before the truck started to tip over at the sudden turn.

"Ughhhh…what the hell was that Mari?" Meteora asked her, rubbing her head.

"Uh, there was a pothole in the road, and I'm pretty sure that Jenkins told me I always had to avoid those."

"I should have been more specific." Jenkins said, getting up and moving over to her. "Potholes aren't landlines, they're holes. And a truck this big can probably take any pothole with ease. What did you think would happen if we hit it?"

"The truck would...tip over? Maybe?"

Jenkins paused and stared at her before letting out a gigantic sigh. "Remind me to give you two a physics lesson after we're done with the Underworld war. I forget how little I actually taught you about the kind of stuff they teach you in school."

"No kidding." Meteora mumbled. "Hmm...I wonder if I can use the mind realm to-"

"_I don't have any memories of stuff like that, so no. I can't show you what schools used to be like."_

"Can...you teach me?"

"_I'm not going to teach you magic stuff and normal stuff at the same time Meteora. We have enough on our plate already."_

"Fair." Meteora said, before directing her attention back to the others. "Ah well, a little swerve that could have ended our lives isn't anything to worry about. That's almost every day. So can we get moving again?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Mariposa said, turning the wheel and pushing on the gas pedal. The truck moved forward again at a relatively slow speed, with Jenkins watching the road and Mariposa like a hawk.

Meteora, on the other hand, followed Jenkins advice and was attempting to fall asleep, having slight progress until the Voice spoke and her eyes shot open.

"_You know, we can always get back to the mind realm. I can show you more stuff. When we get to the Underworld, you won't have many opportunities to sleep. You better take advantage of it while you can."_

"Oh I know." Meteora whispered. "But for once, I'd like to go back to how it was before. With no Voices in my head and no weird memories in my dreams. Can I just have...some normal dreams, and actually feel rested when I wake up?"

"_Hm. Very well. Enjoy your nap. But you better not regret not taking this opportunity later."_

"I won't. I...won't." Meteora said, before closing her eyes again and falling asleep in an instant.

**Several hours later…**

It had felt like days. Jenkins was in the backseat, constantly terrified that Mariposa would do something wrong. Mariposa was confident in her driving, careful not to hit any obstacles. Meteora was still asleep, her face pressed against the window. As the truck suddenly hit a gigantic pothole that Mariposa missed and bounced slightly, Jenkins let out a terrified shriek. Mariposa paused, and then stopped the truck to laugh at this, her stomach nearly hurting and her face turning red. Meteora made a few groaning noise in her sleep and then slowly lifted her eyelids with her hands, looking over at the two.

"Oh my god, that is hilarious!" Mariposa said. "All these years, and the thing you're most scared of is me driving! You're white as a sheet dude! Seriously, calm down."

Jenkins calmed himself down and glared at her. "Yeah, well, you're a terrible driver. I'm not going to let _this _be the thing that kills me. You're only doing as good as you are because the road is flat."

"Oh blah." Mariposa said. "I'm a great driver."

"Not for long." Jenkins said. "Because I'm taking over. Get in the back, I'm driving again."

"Alright, if you're so adamant about it." Mariposa said. "I wouldn't win an argument with you anyways…"

Mariposa got up and scrambled into the back seat, while Jenkins got back into the front, they both put on their seatbelts, and he got them moving again. Meteora glared at them both and leaned back in her seat.

"You two are just peas in a pod." She said, gaining the attention of them both. "Seriously, you both kill things without caring, you don't make friends easily, you're both freakishly fast, and to top it all off, you can argue with each other and then go back to being buddies a minute later."

"Duh." Mariposa said. "Of course we go back to being friends. You guys are the only friends I got. Well, besides Katrina. She was cool. But for now, you're the only friends I got. It's not like I can stay mad at you for that long. Also, don't think I'm some kind of mini-Jenkins. I'm not...not...wait. You...actually made a lot of good points. Am I exactly that? Am I seriously just a miniature version of Jenkins?" She asked herself, uncertainty coating her voice.

"No." Jenkins said. "You're not. Yes, Meteora said that we're alike. Yes, she was right about a few things. But you're not me. If I wanted you two to grow up so that you'd end up like me, then trust me when I say that both of you would be...a lot different."

"Different how?" Meteora said, raising an eyebrow.

"Different in that I'll tell you later. But for now, let's keep going. I don't think we have much longer. Some of this is starting to look familiar. I think I can almost see that rock spire that Janna ambushed us on."

Jenkins slammed on the gas pedal and they continued on their way. A few minutes later, they saw that it was in fact the same mountain, and they could even see the point where the path had been destroyed.

'Almost there.' Meteora thought. 'Almost back to the Underworld. I just hope that Lucitor castle wasn't attacked again. If everybody there is dead, then this'll all be for nothing. Although I guess a lot of things can happen that'll make this all for nothing. Any one of us dying, me dying because of a spell I cast, me losing my magic...wait. Could that actually happen?'

"Voice." Meteora whispered. "I just thought of something. Is there anyway I can lose my magic? Or can somebody steal it?"

"_Why would you want to know that? Do you...no longer want magic? Because they would be really bad timing." _The Voice said, anxious about the meaning behind Meteora's words.

"No, no." Meteora said. "I still want magic, believe me. But I was wondering if it's possible for somebody to steal my powers. Like, could Janna cast a spell that could do that? Or could I do it and take her powers away?"

"_I suppose it would be possible." _The Voice said. "_But it would be one of those spells that's too dangerous for you to use. In fact, even in your butterfly form it would probably kill you. You would be using up so much magical energy to steal the other persons magic that you would be losing more than you would be gaining, and then…"_

"I'd die?" Meteora said, without posing it as a question. "Seems to be a bit of a theme here…"

"_Not my fault."_

"I know it's not your fault. But whatever. The only _real _thing I'm worried about is...is...what the hell is that?"

Meteora squinted her eyes and leaned forward, looking out the front window. A few hundred feet away, there seemed to be some kind of line of people on the road. Meteora thought it was a mirage at first, but it didn't fade, and her eyes widened as they came in cleared focus.

"Jenkins!" She yelled. "Jenkins, sto-"

"I see it, I see it!" Jenkins yelled back, stomping his foot on the brake pedal. The truck screeched to a halt, and they all lurched forward before their seatbelts stopped them from flying out the front window.

"Ow!" Mariposa yelled from the back, unaware of why they stopped. "What was that for?! I feel my chest just got rope burned…" She ripped the seat belt off and grabbed the back of both of their seats. "Seriously, why did we stop? What...umm...okay, who are they?" She asked, noticing the same thing as everybody else.

They all looked closer at the line of people standing in front of the road. From a distance, Meteora saw the sunlight gleaming off their bodies, as if they were made of something shiny.

"Why are they shiny?" She asked. "Are they made of metal or something?"

Jenkins sank into his seat and grimaced. "They're not made of metal. It's armor. Demon armor."

"What?!" Mariposa said. "Demon armor? Does that mean those are Drosid's-"

"Maybe." Jenkins said. "They could be his demons, or they could be Dave's. I can't see it too closely. But I can tell that the armor is red from here. Also, they're gigantic, and I think one of them has horns…"

Meteora looked from Jenkins, then to Mariposa, and then back to the line of demons. "Should...I go and see?" She asked. "Go and see if they're Drosid's demons?"

"Yes." Jenkins said. "But we're coming with you. Both of us. You're not doing this alone."

"Wait, why do we have to come along?" Mariposa asked. "Why can't we just let Meteora-"

"BOTH OF US." Jenkins said sternly. "I don't care if she can take them out by herself. We're not just going to sit here and do nothing like cowards. Plus, if it's Dave's demons, then they're going to want a friendly welcome."

Mariposa paused and then sighed in defeat. "Fine. Let's go. Although in my personal opinion, there's nothing "cowardly" about not wanting to fight a gigantic monster covered in armor that's also twice your size."

"Yup." Jenkins said. "But we're doing it anyways."

Without another word being said, they all exited the truck and started slowly walking down the road, taking one step every second. As they got closer, Jenkins could see the same armor pattern that was on the demon that had attacked them back at the town, and he clenched his fist and leaned over towards Meteora.

"Get ready to go butterfly." He said. "You can do that in command, right?"

"Uhhh…"

"_Yes, you can. Concentrate on doing it, and that is all it takes. Same as everything else. Don't hesitate if you need to do it."_

"Yeah." Meteora said. "I can. But let me guess, those aren't Dave's demons. Drosid sent a bunch of them after us."

"Bingo." Jenkins said. "Sadly, it doesn't look like we're due for a warm welcome."

"Then why are we still walking towards them?" Mariposa asked in irritation. "Let's just go back to the truck and run them over."

"Use your head." Jenkins said. "That truck might be able to dent that armor, but in return they'll tear it apart, all the way down to the frame. We also can't just drive around them, the road is the only part of the landscape that's actually drivable on. Also, you saw how durable that armor was. Hell, Meteora's spells probably aren't even going to be able to get through. I just suspected that you would just cook them alive inside their armor like a giant oven."

"Sounds accurate." Meteora said. "But remember the demon back at the town. My spells didn't do anything to hurt it. It wasn't affected at all."

"As long as they die, then I'm good with it." Jenkins said. "But I don't feel like they're here to fight. They don't have any weapons. I think they're just here to talk."

"They don't need weapons, they can rip us in half using their bare hands." Mariposa said. "And I don't see why they would just be here to talk."

"Negotiation is the most important part of war." Jenkins said. "And while I admit I don't really care much for negotiation at this point, Drosid must. If he somehow knows that Meteora got her butterfly form, then he's gonna be desperate. He doesn't want to fight against that. Not after what Meteora did to his tank with a single spell."

"Okay, can both of you just shut up?" Meteora said, tired of their banter. "We'll figure it out. If they make a move, then I'll go butterfly and kill them. The end. If they're here to talk, then we'll talk."

Everybody kept quiet as they made their way to the line of demons, until they stopped about ten feet away. Both groups stared at each down, waiting for the other to make a move. Jenkins couldn't see any difference between them, as they all were completely covered by their armor. Six in total, standing shoulder to shoulder. They kept looking at each other before Jenkins lost his internal patience.

'Screw this.' He thought. "Alright, what do you want? Did Drosid send you assholes to stop us?"

One of the demons stepped forward. "He did. He also gave us a message to tell you. He told us to tell you that you are not to come into the Underworld and fight for King Dave. No matter what."

"I see." Jenkins said, his eyes narrowing to nothing but slits. "Tell me, why does he think we're just going to abide to that?"

"My leader does not just think it, he knows it." The demon said. "You _will _abide to this, or you will pay the price. We will constantly guard the portal, and if you come near it, we will kill you."

"Wow. Drosid sent out all _six _of you just to stop us from doing that. I'm flattered. Oh, and sorry for killing your buddy back at the town. I'm not sure why Drosid would try to tell us and then try and talk to us, but hey! Who am I to question your weird demon strategies? You guys do you. And while you're at it, you can-"

"Do you think this is a joke?" The demon asked. "You talk like this isn't a serious matter. You are not to go to the Underworld. And even if you do manage to kill us here, you won't get in. We put a gigantic boulder in front of the portal, on the Underworld side, and the strength needed to move it is far greater than anything you can muster. It took all six of us to move it."

"A giant boulder? Hm. Very impressive. And I'm trying to be serious." Jenkins said. "It's just that I'm failing. Because I just don't get why Drosid would send a demon to kill us, but after _we _kill that one, he sends you jackasses for intimidation. I wonder why that is…"

"Drosid does not see you as worth his time anymore." The demon said. "Our brother who you slew back at the ruined city was a simple...act of anger. My leader saw the error of his ways and knew that it would be best to ignore you filth. But also to make sure you can't enter the war, especially with the hybrid girl."

Meteora tilted his head and looked at the demon like he was insane. "Is that so?" She said. "You know what I'm getting out of all that. Drosid doesn't see us as not worth his time. He's _scared, _isn't he? Of me."

"Hold your tongue!" The demon yelled at Meteora, it's eyes flashing at her in anger. "Our great leader is scared of nothing and no one. Especially not of you. Your pretty little spells don't impress him. He had dealt with magic users before, and he will deal with you the same way. By tearing your head off and turning it into a trophy."

"Looking forward to it." Meteora said. "But if he's so fearless, then why did he retreat back at the Lucitor castle after I took out most of his army? He literally screamed at his forces to leave. He seemed pretty scared back then. You know, don't you? You were probably there."

"That...was a brilliant tactical move." The demon said. "Our leader knew that it was foolhardy to try and attack with the remaining forces he had left. It would have really in defeat, and then our demise. He was not scared. He simply knew that in order to win, he had to fight another day."

"Well, I'm still saying he's scared." Meteora said, before slowly putting her hand behind her back. "Is that what this is _really _supposed to be? All of you trying to scare us into not going back to the Underworld? Great tactic, but I'm afraid that it's not going to work."

"And why is that?"

"Because." Meteora said. "If you don't get out of here in the next ten seconds, then I'm going to kill you, and then all of your friends. We've waited a long time to get back to that portal, and I'm not going to let us be stopped by a bunch of morons that are basically walking demon stereotypes."

The demons all looked at each other and then chuckled slightly, greatly amused by Meteora's claims. Meteora smiled and closed her eyes while they were doing this, her face frozen in one of deep concentration, and then opened them again a second later, looking eager to start the fight.

"Really?" The lead demon said, not having noticed this. "That little stunt you pulled back at the castle was only the result of good aim and luck. Our armor is impenetrable to your magic. And it's not like the two behind you can do anything either."

"Oh, I know." Meteora said. "But without the armor, you're nothing. So...I'm just going to get started on that now." In a sudden flurry of moment, Meteora pulled her arm out from behind her back and revealed her hand, glowing a bright green. She thrusted her arm forward at them, and a beam of energy shot out of it and soared in their direction, before striking the lead demon and enveloping all of them in a miniature explosion of light as Meteora, Jenkins, and Mariposa lept backwards to shield themselves.

But before the light had even faded away, Meteora jumped in the air, closed her eyes, and in another flash of green light, morphed into her butterfly form as four extra arms and two wings were created out of nothing. She hovered in the air for a second, before she flew at the lead demon and slammed into him before pushing him to the ground. She grabbed his breastplate as the armor twisted and bent in her grip, then ripped it off and threw it at another demon, where it flew towards his neck and quickly decapitated him.

As for the lead demon, Meteora charged another spell and shoved her arm into his chest before firing it. The spell fired his innards and then vaporized his entire torso, with Meteora pulling her arm out and jumping back a second before it exploded into a bloody cloud.

"Two down." She said, then turned to the others.

Not giving them a chance to react, she grabbed the lead demons right leg and used it as a club, smashing another in the face and then sweeping his legs before shoving the armored heel into his face, and his head was crushed as his helmet collapsed onto his face.

"That's three."

Two of the demons, almost too shocked to react, stood where they were before fearfully rushing at her, feet raised high in the air as they prepared to crush her. She dodged them just as they brought their feet into the ground, creating another small dust cloud that blocked their vision. Meteora grabbed the back legs of one and slowly picked him up, with the demon dangling upside down as she lifted him into the air. He attempted to grab her, but after going straight up for at least fifty feet, she let go and he fell to the ground. Just like Meteora planned, he landed on top of the other demon that had tried to step in her, the impact killing them both instantly.

"One more."

As for the last demon, Meteora flew back down and grabbed his helmet with all six of her arms, tearing it off before seizing his head before twisting it to the side snapping it and killing him. His body fell to the ground in almost slow motion as Meteora watched it fall, the job done.

Total elapsed time: 20 seconds.

"Well." She said. "That takes care of that."

Jenkins and Mariposa, mouths wide open in bewilderment, took a moment to comprehend Meteora's brutal slaughter of the demons before Jenkins snapped back to reality.

"Uh..yeah." He said. "Nice...work."

"What's wrong?" Meteora asked, shifting out of her butterfly form and returning to normal. "Is it because I killed those guys so easily?"

"Kind of…" Jenkins responded. "But I think this is going to be even easier than I thought. That was less than half a minute. So much for not killing the messenger."

"That only applies when the messenger isn't trying to kill you." Mariposa said, coming back to attention as well. "But does this change anything? That demon did say that they put a giant boulder in front of the portal on the Underworlds side…"

"I'm betting I can push it." Meteora said. "In my butterfly form. I just need to…to…" Meteora grasper ner her head and stumbled around a bit before falling into her knees. Before she knew it, her knees collapsed and she fell to the ground, her vision fading to black in an instant. She attempted to move, but her muscles felt like they were made of paper, and she could hear her heart beating impossibly fast. But after a second more of desperately grasping on to her life, the feeling in her arms and returned and her vision came back as the world reformed around her. The first thing she saw was Jenkins, running over to her.

"Meteora!" He said. "Are you-"

"No." She said. "I don't think I'm okay. Pretty sure I almost died there for a second. I shouldn't have used that form again. It must have been too much for my body to take…"She attempted to get up before her legs wobbled and she fell back down again. "Okay, you're gonna have to carry me. I can hardly move."

Jenkins frowned slightly before picking her up and slung her over his shoulders, before turning around and heading back towards the truck.

"Thanks." Meteora said, her heart still racing in her ears. "Mari, you take the front seat. I get the back seat to rest."

Mariposa rolled her eyes and climbed onto the passenger seat, while Jenkins set Meteora down in the back, and she splayed herself out and tried to get comfortable.

"Don't relax _too _much." Jenkins said, getting in the driver's seat. "Sorry, but we're almost at Echo creek. You saw the rock spire. A few minutes, and we'll be there."

"Hooray." Meteora said. "What do we do first?"

"First thing we do is try to move that giant rock they supposedly blocked the portal with. Then we go to the Lucitor castle, and see if they're still there. If they are, great. If they're not, then we-"

"Hold on." Mariposa said. "I just thought of something."

"Hm? What is it?" Jenkins asked her.

"How the hell did those demons know where we were?" She asked. "Who told them that we were coming back to Echo creek in this truck? How did they know we left? How did they know we would come back? Who told them?"

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"Damn." Jenkins said, tiff toy gripping his hands on the steering wheel. "I hadn't even thought about that. How _did _they know? Did they see us get kidnapped by Janna? Or was it something else?"

"Speaking of Janna…" Meteora butted in. "Maybe she was the one that told them."

"That doesn't make any sense." Mariposa said. "The demons hate anybody that's not a demon, so they wouldn't accept help from Janna. Also, how would she tell them? Last we saw, she was fleeing in the opposite direction. So she had no way to get that information to them. And finally, why would she do that at all?"

"...Okay, all of that is true." Meteora said. "But I was just suggesting options! And I feel like that's the _only _option. She was the only one who knew where we were. Nobody else. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless she was already in contact with the Underworld. Maybe she had some kind of communication device on one of her trucks, and she went back to get it after we left. Maybe Drosid has one as well. That's how they could have known."

Mariposa sighed. "Did you listen to me? Demons. Hate all non demons. Wouldn't take help from Janna. She wouldn't-"

"I can believe it." Jenkins said.

"Oh please no." Mariposa said. "I just poked every hole in that theory of hers. Why would you believe it?"

"Because just because they hate all non demons, that doesn't mean they won't accept help." Jenkins said. "They're desperate. Drosid's army is in pieces. Literally. If someone offers to help them, then they won't just say no to it."

"Yeah, but Meteora also suggested that they've been in contact all along. Before we even arrived."

"So what if they have been? If they share a common goal, then they would work together. And they do share a common goal. They both want the people who fled to the Underworld dead. Drosid wants them dead because they're not demons. Janna probably wants them dead because of that one time they snuck around her base, like you said Katrina told you Mariposa. I remember they story. You told both of us. Sad yes, but useful. Janna will hunt anybody down if they go near her base and escape, as we've experienced firsthand."

Mariposa frowned and look at Meteora, then to Jenkins. "Damn it…" She mumbled. "Alright fine. If you two believe it, then I guess that's what we're going for."

"Good." Jenkins said. "Now I'd you don't mind, I'm getting us out of here." He then got the truck moving again, slowly maneuvering around the demons bodies before he gave up and drove in the side of the road, and then getting back to the middle. Once they got it Echo creek, they finally stopped for the last time and got out, ruined cars blocking any passage further into the city. Meteora has some difficulty staying on her feet, but managed after taking a few steps.

"Why didn't you warn me?" She mumbled. "Voice. Why didn't you say that doing the butterfly form was a bad idea?"

But there was no reply. The Voice stayed silent, or wasn't there at all.

"Hey!" Meteora said. "I'm talking to you. Did you see what happened?"

Still no reply.

Meteora growled but shook off her anger. Wherever the Voice went, she would have to take care of it later. She looked back at the others, both of which were looking at the truck.

"Sucks." Jenkins said. "Wish we had this thing all along. Could have been really useful at times…"

"Well, just be glad it didn't run out of gas on the way here." Mariposa said. "At least one lucky thing happened to us."

"One lucky thing?" Jenkins said. "More like several lucky things. Meteora saves us from Janna, one of the trucks was still drivable, you didn't crash into anything while driving, we now know where we need to go after the war, Meteora easily killed those demons, and like you said, the truck didn't run out of gas. All in all, a very productive day."

"If that isn't a jinxing, then I don't know what is." Mariposa said, looking around for some wood to knock on. "Something bad is definitely gonna happen now."

"Most likely." Jenkins said. "But for now, let's enjoy the moment, and got to the portal."

They all set off into the town and headed for the forest, ignoring everything else and going straight for their destination. Meteora thought about getting the packs they Dave had gotten them, the ones that contained everything they needed, but realized that they didn't need them right now. In fact, it would be best if they left them up here, so they had extra supplies to get when they left the Underworld again.

After a few minutes of tranquil silence and repetitive walking, the portal was in their sights. It looked exactly the same as when they first saw it. Nothing had changed.

"Finally…" Jenkins said. "Hopefully they were just bluffing about that boulder." He walked up to the portal and carefully stretched his hand toward it. His hand went through it but was stopped by something solid almost immediately after. Jenkins silently cursed and then looked back at Meteora and Mariposa.

"Guess we're waiting for a little while longer." He said. "Boulders actually there, and there's no way I'm going to be able to push it, and Meteora, you're in no condition too. Do you know how long it should take that form to...recharge?"

"I have no idea." She said. "But...it's gonna be a while."

"Fantastic." Jenkins said. "Then I'm going to go get Dave's packs. Get some food. You two stay here. Or go explore the town for the hundredth time, it doesn't matter. Just don't leave the town."

"Got it." They both said, and Jenkins left them behind and headed back into the town. Mariposa day down and leaned against a tree, twiddling her thumbs as she thought about nothing.

Meteora sat down as well, laying on her back and using a nearby rock as a makeshift pillow, wishing she was back in the truck. At least that had been somewhat comfy, bumps and potholes aside. She had half a mind to just go back there, until as per usual, the silence she had come to appreciate was interrupted.

By the very thing that had caused her to appreciate it.

"_You won't be able to push that boulder you know."_

"Oh for the love of...hey! Wait a minute. Where were you a few minutes ago? Why didn't you warn me about using that form again? I almost died!"

"_Yes. And I apologize for that. Deeply. But I was busy doing other things. I'm trying to fix your memories at the moment, maybe restore the ones you've lost. As for the butterfly form thing, I...just didn't see it coming. I was preoccupied with your memories at that moment."_

"Feels like a lazy explanation, but fine." Meteora said. "But now that that's over with, I'd like peace and quiet. So go and keep fixing my memories or whatever."

"_Meteora, you've had peace and quiet for the past few hours. I left you completely alone after you talked to your mother."_

"Well, then can I have a bit more?"

"_No. There are more important things to discuss at the moment."_

"Uggghhhh…" Meteora complained, grabbing her hair and pulling it out of anger. "Alright. Go ahead. What's so important that you're stopping me from sleeping on this rock?"

"_Like I said, you won't be able to love that boulder out of the way. Even in your butterfly form."_

"Why?"

"_Two reasons. You can't use magic. Using the kind of spells needed to destroy the boulder, i.e., explosive ones, could have...unintended consequences on the portal. It could shrink it, make it go somewhere else, or just make it disappear entirely."_

"So no magic then?" Meteora asked. "Okay. But still, I should be able to push it out of the way in that form. I am super strong-"

"_You're strong, but not strong enough. It took all six of those demons to move that rock in front of the portal."_

"Wait, how did they even do that and still get to this side?"

"_Probably tugged it the last few feet…"_ The Voice said, sounding uncertain with it's own answer. "_But that's besides the point. You had trouble lifting that one demon in the air. I could feel the strain in your arms. Simply put, I doubt you will be able to move it."_

"Shouldn't I try anyways?"

"_Yeah. But there is another solution."_

"Another...solution?" Meteora asked curiously. "What are you talking about? Is there something you haven't told me?"

"_Yes...but I didn't want to because it was too risky."_

"Oh great, another spell that could kill me if I use it." Meteora said. "Just add it to the list. We should really make one of tho-"

"_Not like that. More in the fashion that you could kill everybody around you, not yourself._"

Meteora paused and slowly got up, her mouth hanging slightly open. "Go on…"

The Voice sounded as if it had taken a deep breath, readying itself to tell Meteora what it knew.

"_Your butterfly form. It's...it's not the only form you have."_

**End chapter 27**

**A/N: Well. That should be interesting. For anybody who remembers the future visions of chapter 12, then that's what this is going to lead into. I feel this arc nearing its end…**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	28. Chapter 28: Nothing left for anyone

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 28**

**Nothing left for anyone**

As Jenkins slowly left Meteora, Mariposa, and the charred out remains of the forest of certain death behind him and entered the main town, his mind fluttered with thoughts as he struggled to keep his cool.

Normally, he would be very good at that. Sure, he had his fair share of outbursts of anger, raw emotion, and good old sighs of annoyance,but most of the time he was an expert in making it look like he was fine with everything going on around him, no matter how massive of a shitstorm it was.

But as for right now, the urge to just scream at the top of his lungs was almost too big to ignore and the odds were against him that he would be able to hold it in. Nevertheless, he still had too. For Meteora. For Mariposa. For everyone else that he just discovered was still alive. But it was getting more difficult. Truth be told, he was probably the most worried out of any of them. With the Underworld war coming up, all the fear that had been growing inside him as about to break through, and then everything would go to hell. Even more so than usual.

So many questions as well. Would Meteora and Mariposa survive? If they didn't, what would he do next? Is that Voice is Meteora's head to be trusted in any way, or does it have more sinister plans at work? And if none of them survive, then what had this all been for? These questions, and many others, occupied his thought process and practically made veins appears on his forehead from thinking too hard.

He stopped where he was and took a few deeps breaths, relaxing himself. "Calm down." He said. "Remember what you said earlier? We've had plenty of good luck lately. There's no reason to get all angry over any of this. That Voice, the Underworld war, the hundreds of miles between us and those survivors...they're all just problems. Problems that you can solve. Just like all the other problems you've solved before. So forget all of that. Go get Dave's pack, eat something, it'll make you feel better."

Jenkins gave himself a quick nod and kept moving towards the wrecked building that he had left the supply packs at. He wondered how much was left. Jenkins wasn't sure how long it would take Meteora to recharge her butterfly form and then use it without it killing her, but hopefully it wouldn't be _too _long. He wanted to get out of here, end that stupid war, and be done with it. 15 years he had waited for an opportunity like this, and he wasn't about to let somebody swoop in and ruin it all.

As if he had any choice in the matter.

But his mind was replaced with a hungry void when he reached the abandoned wreck of a food stand and the packs, still sitting where they left them. He breathed a sigh of relief and picked all three of them up with one arm, then started to head back to the forest. But as much as he didnt want to, he couldn't help but look around at his surroundings. The same surroundings that he had now seen countless times. Both pre and post-apocalypse. Familiar, but unfamiliar. Like a distant dream that he was trying his hardest to remember. But when he passed one particular building, the whole dream came spiraling back, and was replaced with a memory, clear as day.

Jenkins stopped where he was and slowly dropped his arms, the packs falling to the ground as he looked on at the building to his right.

The former mayor's meeting place of the council. The place where he spent most of his time when he visited Earthni. The place where all the decisions were made. The place that he grew to loath, as going there meant constantly interacting with incompetent monarchs and useless royals.

But they were all gone now. None of them were here. It was standing there, all alone, only slightly harmed by the blast. Jenkins wondered how he had missed it before, with him and the others already having stayed in the town for more than a week. But he supposed that he would have to miss one place, and of course it would be the building that he hated most. He _had _passed by it earlier that week, hadn't he? He just didn't want anything to do with it. But now...maybe a small peek inside wouldn't hurt.

All in all, it seemed to be in rather good condition. Made of solid painted-over concrete, the office was scarcely damaged by the nuke, the only damage being the numerous black burn marks on the stone as well as a few missing pieces from some of the pillars that held the building up. But it was still standing. It was in no condition to suddenly collapse on him.

He eyed the office up and down as more memories started to come back to him. He remembered the first time the council was called to order. The tension in the air was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. The numerous Earth leaders and Mewnian monarchs all eyeing each other with suspicion, with Jenkins trying his hardest to keep everyone calm. The meeting miraculously ended without any bloodshed, but it was plain to see that none of them particularly liked one another. What followed was months of shaky alliances and difficult trade deals between Mewni and Earth. But just as seemed like it would all turn out okay, a sociopathic lizard made it all go up in flames.

Jenkins face twisted into a scowl as he remembered Seth, likely still out there somewhere in the wasteland, making plans to finish the job and exterminate everyone. Jenkins silently promised to himself that he would find and kill him, no matter what. Although, this was a rather pointless gesture. A promise already made several times before. A promise that looked like it would never be fulfilled.

Not wanting to be distracted by Seth anymore, Jenkins shook off the thoughts and slowly walked towards the office, each footstep bringing a sense of deja vu. He went through the large front gate and up the steps that led to the colossal wooden doors, both of them twice as tall as he was.

He grabbed the handle and turned it, the metal hinges creaking as he slowly pushed the door forward. He eventually grew tired of the noise and just kicked the door in entirely, feeling like his ears were about to start bleeding. Dust and ash kicked up from the ground as the door flew open, with Jenkins coughing and covering his eyes from the small cloud he made. As it cleared, he moved forward again and entered the main office, the first thing he saw being the lobby.

Which, if he was being honest, was rather mundane. While it was a nice change of pace for everything inside to still be mostly intact, he had seen it all before. Typical marble floors, typical Mewnian and American flags, typical paintings of various "historical" events covering the walls, it was the whole deal. A deal that Jenkins had made hundreds of times. All the government buildings looked the same. At least the E.D.F. headquarters tried to spice things up by adding a rug or two.

That didn't stop him from looking around though. sweet time, he carefully inspected every inch of the lobby, even cracks in the floor gaining his interest. It was like the whole lobby was an art gallery, and he was sent there to critique it. But he wondered. Why was this all so fascinating to him? Why was he taking the time to look at it all? He had seen it before. Only 15 years ago, he had seen it all. He had...had...wait, only 15 years? Was that seriously what he just thought? _Only_ 15 years?

Jenkins stopped his examination of the lobby and focused on the notion that had just entered his mind. Had it really been 15 years? Looking back at it, it seemed like it had been no time at all. But then again, that was how life went. Looking back at everything, it feels like no time had passed. But the present crawls at a snail's pace, and as for the future version of oneself, it's only purpose is to deceive the past and present, promising it false hopes.

Jenkins frowned and decided that that wasn't it either. There was something else he was missing. Both the past and the present moved slowly. It was the future that seemed to arrive so fast. So many things were happening, so many things he wasn't ready for. But who was ready for them? Who knew exactly what to do when faced with new situations? Meteora and Mariposa, thats who. They understood. They understood the world. What kind of changes it makes to people. What it turns them into. They were raised in it after all. By someone who had no duty of being a parent.

Heh. And what a parent he was. Years and years and of slaughtering, torturing, surviving, teaching, and killing. All in the name of keeping two children safe. Two children that never belonged to him. That never would. He was _not _their true father. He had accepted this fact. Mostly because the whole experience made him grateful he never had kids when the world was still a functioning society. He was still having trouble even today. So many times they had been close to death, so many times that they would when died if not for each other. He feared for them. What they had turned into. He raised them to be killers, to live by a specific set of rules, and they had followed them exactly how he wanted them too.

But at what cost?

Suddenly, it all clicked in his head. The past wasn't moving fast, was it? He just didn't want to remember it, so it only seemed like it had been moving fast. He didn't have that many memories of it because he had blocked most of them out, not wanting to be reminded of the atrocities he committed. All of this, subconsciously. All of it, without him knowing.

What had he become? Was he any better than the man he used to be? So many terrible things he did while in the E.D.F., so much death. So much war. So many dimensions trying to take over Earth, with only him and his soldiers ever knowing. They were merciless in execution. Monsters trying to take over were met with an unrelenting assault, not one prisoner taken. Even the ones who begged for their lives while on their knees were answered with a bullet to the head. But he had to do it. He had to show the rest of the multiverse what would happen to them if they tried to conquer Earth. But they never listened. So they soldiered on, heroes of a planet that would never know of the things he did.

But was he any different now? He was still a killer. One without mercy. One that still sought to protect something. The Earth was dead, but he had two new things to shield from harm.

Although by now, he realized that they could shield themselves just fine.

So maybe he hadn't failed. The fact that they were still alive was proof enough of this. They were still fighting, still breathing, still taking care of each other when he couldn't. But they were the only things he hadn't failed. He failed the Earth. He failed its people. All of it.

There was nothing else to say.

Jenkins grimaced at the floor, all of this hitting him so hard that it almost hurt him physically. But he had to remain strong. He composed himself and left the lobby. He continued looking around the office, inspecting it all. There was not much left to see, and soon, only one room was left. The meeting room.

Even after all this time, he knew the way perfectly. Traversing through a small maze of hallways, he soon saw the door in his sights. The symboling the door was a mixture of the landmasses of both Mewni and Earth, meant to show that they were one now, and should come together.

But in Jenkin's mind, it showed that they were one, and that they would have to live with it now. There was no going back.

Feeling the doorknob turn in his hand, he entered the meeting room, his eyes widening as the familiar scent of the pine wood that made up the chairs and tables flowed into his nostrils, still present even after a decade and a half.

He steadily walked around the room, brushing the edges of the table, feeling it on his fingertips. It felt familiar. Comforting almost. His eyes darted over to the chair at the head of the table. His personal chair. He looked at it like it was an old friend, and then moved towards it, one inch at a time, like a robber attempting to sneak through a house in the middle of the night.

Once he was a few feet away, he nervously swallowed and reached out to touch it, and a new swarm of memories came back as he pressed the old wood against his skin, feeling identical to how it was all those years ago.

He grabbed the chair, pulled it out from under the table, and sat down in it. He then pushed the chair back in, and now he was sitting at the head of an empty table, truly and utterly alone. As if he was in an actual meeting of old, he cleared his throat and addressed the table.

"Shall we begin?" He said to the table. "Who wants to go first? What new problems have sprung up?"

He turned to where Star had sat.

"Star, how are monster-Mewman-human relations at the moment? It's been a long time, and I haven't heard any news. Any riots? Protests?"

He almost heard her voice, saying something about how it was improving, but there was still tension between the three species. As per usual. She then leaned on Marco and drowned the meeting out.

Jenkins nodded and turned to Moon and River, sitting next to each other and trying to look interested.

"Moon, River, about the Butterfly citizens that were teleported to the Amazon, have we heard any news about them? Do they even know about the merge and why they got there?"

A common problem in the early days. Countless Mewni citizens getting teleported halfway across the world, arriving in an unfamiliar place. It took months to transport most of them back to Echo creek. Some elected to stay where they were, perfectly fine with staying away from the main kingdoms, preferring to keep to themselves.

"They're safe." Moon said. "On their way here as we speak. They should be in the city by nightfall, if what that plane operator told us was true."

"I'm sure it was." Jenkins said. "Also, good. Can't have too many people spread out. Getting them back here should be our main priority, behind making sure that war doesn't break out. Speaking of which, for the rest of you monarchs, how is that going? I trust you're all getting along well with the world governments?"

This question was met with several nods. The monarchs all learned early on that they would have to have good relations with Earth leaders, otherwise their split kingdoms would collapse before they even fully connected them again. The Earth leaders were wary at first, but trusting after a little "encouragement" from Jenkins and the E.D.F..

"Good, Good." He said. "So, on to new business. There have been several problems with trade deals, and I've been getting complaints from Earth companies about how you people keep trying to use gold coins to buy things. I have no idea _why _they're complaining about this, but I guess they just take the "cash only" rule very seriously. That or they think the coins are counterfeit. So you're all gonna have to work on that. Any complaints?"

Soon, the entire room was filled with voices, Jenkins imagining each and every one of them as if he was actually there. Globgor making notes on how monsters were running out of food, Star and Marco offering solutions to help, the monarchs grumbling at the mention of monsters being helped, it was a full blown discussion.

Who knows how long he sat in that chair. Eventually, he grew tired of it, and started replaying old meetings that he remembered. Eventually he grew tired of those. So he made more and more up, never stopping, never quitting.

It grew to be too much. Dozens of voices talking at once, including his own. None of them real, all of them just dreamed up by him. Yelling in his ear. He couldn't take it for one more second. He had to make it stop.

He stood up.

Grabbed his chair.

And with all his strength, he threw it against the wall, shattering it into pieces, splinters flying everywhere. He then turned to the table, grabbing the bottom of it and flipping it over entirely, nearly scraping the ceiling. Fueled by adrenaline which was fueled by his current rage, he picked the table up entirely and threw it across the room, where just like the chair, it smashed to pieces, it's only purpose now being a possible source of firewood.

And so it continued. Jenkins went from chair to chair, grabbing them and smashing them again the wall, against other chairs, and when there was no more left, he picked up the pieces and smashed those to. His rage-a-thon lasted a full ten minutes, and by the end of it, he was exhausted, falling to his knees and panting heavily, staring at nothing.

He felt tired. Old. He wasn't sure how much longer he could go on doing this. Years of surviving in the empty ness was beginning to take its toll on him. He'd be surprised if he made it past forty. If he even made it past today. Or tomorrow. Or any day. He could die at any time, for any reason. None of it made sense, but event since the bombs dropped, nothing ever made sense.

But it had almost felt good, destroying all of it. It almost felt like he needed to do that.

But for what? So he could move on? So he could forget the past? So he could fully embrace what he had become? Which was to say, the exact same person? What had he done this all for? Out of compassion? Care? The desire to do what was right?

No. No, it was none of those things. He knew exactly what it was. He had always known

Nothing. It was for nothing. He got up, and left the mayor's office. There was nothing left for him there.

Nothing left for anyone.

.

**Back in the forest…**

"N...not my only form?" Meteora asked. "There's something _besides _the butterfly form?"

"_Yes." _The Voice said. "_I would have told you, but like I said, I didn't want to take the risk."_

"Because I would attack Mari and Jenkins?"

"_Mm-hm. You would likely kill them as well. This form is dangerous and powerful. As powerful as the butterfly form, if not more so. Although it really only has one magical ability, it is unparalleled in physical strength. You would be able to toss cars around like toys and even push over buildings._"

Meteora gripped the sides of her head as she tried to process all of this. There was _yet _another form that the Voice never told her about. She was just as shocked as she was intrigued, especially about the danger part. She could accidentally kill her sort-of sister and her sort-of father? The idea of doing that and being unable to stop herself...she didn't want to think about it. But she had to know more. She couldn't just ignore this.

"So...what's the magical ability?" She asked. "You said it only had one." Meteora didn't really know what to expect from this question. Although this was an odd one to ask first, she realized that it would be best to start small, working her way up to the bigger reveals. She could only take so much at this point.

"_Remember those eye lasers I told you about?" _The Voice asked. "_Basically that, except more powerful. Much, much more powerful. They won't take up much energy. In fact, they might not take up any at all. In your monster form, your stamina with magic will be increased tenfold."_

If Meteora was drinking anything at the moment, it would be safe to say that she would have spat it out in shock. "Wha-monster form?! What the hell are you talking about?" I can turn into a monster?"

"_Okay, I should have phrased that better. But basically, that's the other form I was talking about. Now, as you know, you can change into the butterfly form because of your Mewman half. But since you're also half-monster…"_

"I can change into this...monster form?"

"_Correct. But once again, it is a great risk. It is unstable, erratic, and also gigantic."_

"Gigantic-wait." Meteora said, recalling something she had seen earlier. "Is this form covered in purple fur, has white hair, two clover cheek marks, and has horns and a tail like mine, only much bigger?

"_How...how did you know?" _The Voice asked her, sounding rather agitated, but leaning more towards nervousness than anger.

"I think I've seen it before." Meteora answered, her mind going back to an earlier dream she had, the one with the _other _voice, spouting nonsense about "this is what you are, what you were, something something prevent this."

Wait, was that one of the dreams she had forgotten? Did she forget it originally, or did it never leave and she was just remembering it now? She sighed, realizing that she now had to keep track of the dreams she was actually forgetting because of her now healed skull fracture, and the ones she was forgetting simple because so many other things were going on.

Meteora shook her head and decided that she could focus on that later. For now, she still needed to give the Voice an answer.

"I saw it in a dream." She continued. "One I had back at Dave's castle. I saw a lot of weird things. A bunch of unfamiliar people. But I don't think they were just random dream shenanigans. I think they were memories. There was one where I was a baby, being handed over to some person made of metal. I think it's name was Saint Olag or something."

"_Olga?"_

"Yeah! That was it." Meteora said, struggling to remember the correct details.. "Saint Olga. And then there was another one where I was attacking a bunch of people. Princesses, I think. Alongside what looked to be some of troll-goblin thing and a Septarian with a chainsaw."

"_All very interesting, but unfortunately, I don't recognize any of those moments, if they happened. You can tell me more about those later, but where did you see your monster form?"_

"That's what happened next." Meteora claimed. "I was in this great room, with a bunch of people with black eyes floating around. But there were others. I think Star butterfly was there, as was my mother. Then there was this creature, which i'm positive is that monster form you're talking about. My mother...she attacked it. She cast some kind of spell that might have killed it? But it did call her mommy. I think that was me."

"_..."_

"What is it?"

"_Nothing. It's just interesting." _The Voice said. "_Very, very interesting. Okay, did anything happen next? Did you just wake up afterwards?"_

"No." Meteora said. "I just saw more memories. But this time of events that I actually remembered. All my time surviving out here. I saw a bunch of stuff about that. I'm sure you saw them all. But then it all faded away, and I saw something that wasn't any kind of memory."

"_What was it? What did you see?" _The Voice asked frantically, as if desperate for an answer.

"I saw two figures." Meteora said. "Both of them were completely black in color, and the place I saw them in was equally dark. But the two figures...one looked like my butterfly form, which I didn't really recognize at the time, and the other was that monster form you're talking about."

"_Did they say anything to you? Try to speak with you? Interact with you in anyway?"_

"I'm getting there." Meteora said. "Jeez, you're sounding more anxious than I've ever heard you.

"_I have every right to be. If someone else, another being like me, invaded your mind and showed you these things, without me knowing, then we could be in a mountain of trouble."_

"That sounds promising." Meteora muttered, fuming at the idea of having even _more _enemies to watch out for. "But enough digressing. So, those two figures just did nothing for a while. They just stood there. But then they just...melted."

"_Melted?"_

"Yeah. Melted. Into two pools of some odd black liquid. Then the weirdest part happened next. Those two pools moved toward each other like they were some alive and merged into a giant one, and then something crawled out of it."

"_Wh-what crawled out of it?" _The Voice asked, almost sounding afraid.

"It was a monster." Meteora said. "Not like my dad or anyone like that, but a _real_ monster. Something that's a mindless killing machine, that keeps people up at night, like something out of a nightmare. You know what I mean, right?"

"_I do. I've seen plenty of "real" monsters in other dimensions. But what did it look like? Was it a combination of those two-"_

"Oh yeah. That's exactly what it was. It had six arms, the wings, the gigantic size, all of it. And it was bigger too. Much bigger than the form I saw in that earlier memory. It was massive. The closest thing I can compare it too is the butterfly castle or the monster temple. That's how big it was.

"_The monster-butterfly form…"_

"The what now?"

"_The monster-butterfly form." _The Voice replied. "_It's something I had thought about before, but never mentioned it because I thought it was impossible to achieve."_

"No…" Meteora started. "Are you telling me I have _another _form you never told me about? Dude, why didn't you tell me about these things?!"

"_Because there were other things to focus on at the time!" _The Voice yelled, sounding as if it was sitting right next to her. "_Not only that, but like I said earlier, I didn't want to risk using the monster form unless absolutely necessary. But with that boulder in the way, it seems we have to use it."_

"Then what about this "monster-butterfly form?" Meteora asked. "If I can combine the magic of my butterfly form with the monster forms supposed ultra-strength, then wouldn't it be useful? And wouldn't it be less dangerous since some of my sanity from the butterfly form would carry over to the other one?"

"_You make point. But I never told you about it since I never really bothered to look into it. You have to understand. For such a form to become usable, if it even exists at all, you would need a perfect union with your three parts. The butterfly, the monster, and the normal one. While a union between two of them is easy, one between all three is completely unprecedented, and likely impossible. The forms could handle the raw energy of each other. but you managed to access the power of all three..._

"I'd die?"

"_Yes, but not by your heart stopping. You could literally explode into millions of bloody chunks because your body wouldn't be able to handle all that power. It wouldn't be pretty."_

"That's gruesome." Meteora said. "Are you sure about this though? My body was able to handle the butterfly form! That thing is super strong. I feel like I should be able to handle any other form."

"_Not this one. And compared to the power of some other magical entities, the butterfly form is small fry. If you tired to fight other magic users, real magic users that spent their entire lives living and breathing magic, then you would probably be crushed. You are good with that form, but still inexperienced. Take Janna and her black priests. Janna and a few of them are strong in magic, but they are weak, and only know a spell or two. Real magic users are to your form what Janna and the others are to the butterfly. Strong, but not strong enough. But as for the monster form, you are simply giant and strong, and able to shoot eye-lasers. Not much energy there. The monster form is a crowd stopper, not something you'd use against a single person.'_

"I still don't see why-"

"_Then listen to this. Every heard the saying, "man is not meant to have the power to god"? There's a reason for that. It's too much for you to handle. You would be able to blow up moons and crack planets in half. The spells you could unleash would set entire continents aflame. It is a form beyond strength. You would become a goddess. That is, you would, if you didn't blow up the second you got it."_

"Oh come on, do you know how much I want it _now?"_ Meteora asked. "This is what you said. "Hey Meteora, you have the power to become a goddess, right up there with the level 4 beings, but guess what? You can't use it! You'd die! Oh well, back to using your regular forms." See what I mean? You shouldn't have told me all that stuff if it was never going to come into play."

"_First off, you wouldn't be a level four. I'll admit, the whole "goddess" thing was a bit of an exaggeration. You would be a level three. I meant that you would be a goddess to everyone left on Earthni. Now, for the second thing, you asked, so don't blame me if you don't like the answers_."

"Not liking the answers...talk about the story of my life." Meteora said to herself. "But are you one hundred percent sure I can't use it? There's nothing I can do?"

"_No, you can't...can't...hm. Hmmm. Okay, maybe there is something." _The Voice said, sounding uncertain. "_I need to check something out. Maybe there is a way, but no promises."_

With that, the Voice vanished from her head, leaving Meteora sitting on the ground all by herself, feeling anger, minor self-pity, and just being in a horrendously bad mood.

"That's just fantastic." She complained. She scrambled to her feet and walked over to the portal, pushing her hand against the opening. Just like Jenkins and the demons has said, she could feel the gigantic rock placed directly in front of the portal on the Underworld side, the rough edges pressing against her fingers. She tried pushing against it, just to experiment, but it didn't even budge.

She responded to this by frowning, pulling her hand away, and then walking off into the forest, not even bothering to tell Mariposa. Usually, in a situation like this, it was more customary for her to take a nap until something happened. But there was no telling when the Voice would return from...whatever it was doing, so she couldn't take the risk of being asleep when it returned.

She went deeper into the forest, passing by dozens of burnt out trees and patches of long dead grass. It was almost beautiful, in its own way. Everything fit together so nicely, and every dead plant she passed was its own piece of art, the scorch marks on the wood creating unique patterns. She took a moment to look them over, before leaving them behind and going further in.

It was tranquil, just her and the dead forest. The only sounds were the sounds of her own breathing, and if she listened closely she could hear her own heartbeat. That's how silent it all was. There was nothing else that could make any sound. Not an insect, not a bird, even the wind seemed to have died with everything else.

Meteora slowed her pace as she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Although the silence was nice, it sickened her to know that it wasn't supposed to be there. This was supposed to be a forest. One of death, sure, but a forest. There was supposed to be animals. Things. Actual living things. But it was all dead. All burned away. She wondered how there could still be nothing, even after fifteen years. How much longer would it take for it to start regrowing? A decade? A century? A millennium?

Never?

Never. That was it, wasn't it? None of it would ever grow back. Not in a million years. The soil was dead. It couldn't be brought back. Most of Earthni was dead, _that _couldn't be brought back. The only thing left was it's people, killing each other for food and water that never belonged to them. They would die. It would all die. Nothing could ever-

"NO!" She shouted at herself. "What are you doing? Did you forget what the Voice said? You have to save this world! You're the one to do it! And the soil is dead? It's never coming back? Bullshit! It's not dead. It just has to take it's time. Nothing is ever truly gone. Magic wasn't. If something dies, they'll find a way to still be there, even if it's just in a memory."

Meteora stopped where she was, almost shaking out of anger. "Who was doing that, huh?!" She asked herself. "Who was putting that poison in my mind? Who planted that seed of self-doubt? I don't care! It doesn't matter! I don't need that person anymore! I'm not some loser sinking down into self-pity! I'm...I'm...I'm Meteora Butterfly! And if my job is to save this stupid, annoying, burned up world from itself, then I'm going to do it! Screw Janna, screw Drosid, and screw Seth! When I find them I'm going to kill them with my monster form, or my butterfly form, or maybe even the combination of the two, and we're going to find my mother and everybody else, and then we'll work on uniting everybody on this planet and making them all stop hating one another! Boom! Done! Perfect plan!"

Meteora stood where she was, panting slightly as her throat started to throb from her insane level of shouting. She looked up at the sky, partially obscured by branches, and slowly listened to her heartbeat, thumping in her ears.

"I should do that more often." She mumbled. "Self-motivational shit really works."

She looked back in front of her and continued going further and further into the forest, unsure what she was looking for, but still knowing that whatever or whoever it was, they wouldn't stop her from saving everything.

_That _she was sure of.

**End chapter 28**

**A/N: Well, Jenkins sure does want it to all go back to how it was before. Nothing like 15 years of apocalypse survival to tears someone's mind apart.**

**Meteora also seemed to be quite sure of herself, with her little self-motivation speech. She will find something in that forest, but it won't be what she expected…**

**As for the monster-butterfly form, more of that will be spoken about later. It will be severely important for this arc.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	29. Chapter 29: The ones that never left

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 29**

**The ones that never left**

A simple walk through the woods can be quite good for a person.

The feeling of being alone with nature, with nobody around to bother you, it's an introverts paradise. No pesky people! No pesky problems! Just you and the trees! Completely and utterly alone! Tranquility at its finest!

At least, that's what Meteora was trying to convince herself. But with no people around simply because they were all dead, and with the trees nothing but burned out husks of their former glory, she was finding it quite difficult to enjoy her walk through the forest.

But even if it was for sad reasons, she did enjoy the time alone. The Voice was not speaking to her at the moment, allowing her to finally find some time to be by herself. Who knows where it went. But then again, she didn't really care at the moment. She was still focusing on her plan. The plan to save the world.

Just thinking about it made her smile slightly, the thought of being some kind of legendary figure that would go down in history being almost too exciting to bear. Everyone strived to be immortal in some way, and for Meteora, she knew she had that chance. A chance that only a very small amount of people would ever get.

So she had to be careful not to waste it. The entire time she was going over and over in her head about how she would kill Drosid and Janna, almost getting to the point of sadism, before she slapped herself in the face to brush those thoughts off.

'Don't become evil.' She reminded herself. 'If you enjoy killing them, then you're no better. Kill only when you need to. The black priests, Drosid's demons, and everybody else you've hurt. You can't sink down to their level. Don't become someone you're not. You just have to figure out how. Yes, how?'

Meteora slowed her pace as the question racked her brain, and she started desperately searching for answers as if her life depended on it. She had already gone so low. She knew she was a hairbreadth away from becoming them, from becoming an arrogant and overwhelmingly powerful mess. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely", isn't that what Jenkins once told her? She had been thinking about that, every now and then, scared that she would turn into a villain.

But there was one piece of hope she could grab on to. Nothing had happened to her so far. Sure, she might have gotten a little overconfident at times with her new powers, but she knew she wasn't becoming evil. That wasn't her. If he was going to turn evil, she likely would have done it already. So that was it. That was the answer. She didn't need to do anything, because she _just didn't need to._ She wouldn't turn evil. It wouldn't happen. It would never happen. That was not Meteora Butterfly.

Satisfied that the answer required little real effort other than continuing to be herself, Meteora resumed her normal pace and kept going through the forest, stepping over giant holes in the ground where monstrous plants once lay.

"Jeez…" She said to herself. "Would have hated to see those things back when they were still alive. I wonder why-"

Just as Meteora was about to ask herself a question about why nobody simply killed all the plants, her thought process suddenly halted itself at the feeling of the ground beneath her charging. She looked down, and saw that it was no longer a burned forest floor, but a simple dirt path, too artificial looking to be natural. She looked to her right and left and saw that it extended in both directions, cutting through the forest.

'Okayyyyy...where did this come from?' She thought to herself. 'And who was crazy enough that they thought building anything in this place was a good idea? Considering the name, you'd think they'd have known it was a bad idea.'

Meteora stepped forward and once again looked both ways, deciding which way to go. She decided on left, knowing that it would be impossible to really get lost. The forest couldn't be _that _big.

At least, that's what she told herself. She was doing that a lot these days.

But as she continued down the path, her own self-truths deformed into lies as she saw that the forest was more massive than it seemed. Looking to each side, she could see on an ocean of trees, getting thicker as she went farther. Even looking above her, it got harder to see the sky, despite the lack of leaves. There was just so many trees and so many dead branches that it covered everything like a blanket.

Meteora was half-tempted to pull that blanket off of her and just blast a hole straight through the tree line, although her she knew that was a pointless gesture. Besides, why ruin the silence? It was even quieter on this path than back in the main forest, if that was even possible. Which it was, and that was nice.

So she walked on, eventually getting lost in her own thoughts. So much so that she didn't even notice a particularly large piece of wood sticking out of the ground in front of her, and as with anyone not paying attention to anything but their thoughts, she promptly tripped over it and face planted into the ground.

After a brief moment of shock, she yelled "OW! SHIT!" and jumped up in an instance. She quickly wiped her face with her hand, only to find several drops of blood now staining her fingers. "Oh for the love of god…" She muttered, before grabbing either side of her nose to try and stop the bleeding. She wasn't having much success, as in not time at all it looked like her hand had been doused in red paint. She merely grumbled at this and then looked back to the wooden slab she had tripped over.

Her hands started glowing green as anger took over, and soon she was seconds away from firing a spell. "Alright, burn you stupid piece of-wait, does that board have nails coming out of it?"

The green glow from Meteora's hand faded away as she took a closer look at the price of wood, and saw that there were indeed several nails sticking out of it. In fact, it didn't look like any kind of branch at all. Just some slab of wood that looked like it was ripped out of a house.

Letting go of her nose, Meteora picked it up and looked around, searching for a source.

'How the hell did this get out here?' She thought. 'Did the bomb blast throw it from some house all the way over here? No, it's not burned at all. And there would be more around if that was the case. This is something else.'

She set the board down and looking around, but didn't see any clues. She merely shrugged and was about turn and leave, but then felt something wet pressing again her chest. She looked down to see her shirt almost completely drenched in blood, courtesy of the nosebleed she had forgotten about. It looked like she had been stabbed.

"Ah, son of bitch!" She cursed, before turning back to the plank. She growled and stomped on it with all her strength, making it explode into splinters. She held her nose closed again and then walked away, determined to not let a simple nosebleed anger her any further, even if it had ruined her only shirt.

Storming off away from what remained of the board, she continued the path until she noticed that it was starting to get wider. She then noticed several more boards appearing, all with nails like the last one, and she started to consider that it was in fact the nuke blast. But all her assumptions were proven incorrect when she entered a large clearing, revealing the last thing she would have expected.

A house.

A really crappy one in particular. It was poorly made, looking ready to collapse at a moments notice. The front yard, even if could even be called that, was full of old and half-destroyed furniture, and everything was generally a wreck.

'What is this doing out here…' She thought as she approached it. Careful to watch her step, she noticed that the boards that made up the house were the exact same one that she had seen earlier. There was no doubt about it.

She moved closer to the house and cautiously walked up to its door, not wanting it to collapse on top of her. She grabbed it's doorknob and pushed it forward, but the entire door was thrown off its hinges and fell into the house, so old and rusty that it took no effort on Meteora's part.

She quickly rushed backwards, expecting the entire house to come down. After a tense few seconds, the only things she heard was the sound of her own breathing, and a faint dripping as the blood from her nose landed on the ground. She took a deep breath and moved forward again, carefully stepping over the door and entering the main house.

Despite the outside looking like each part of the house had come from different houses, the inside looked much better. Still a total disaster, but better than what she expected. Most of the furniture inside was old and dusty, but intact and relatively undamaged. Meteora wondered how the house could be this fine, as the blast should have wiped it out of existence.

"Did the forest somehow protect this place?" She asked herself, as if expecting someone to answer. "Could it have-no, all the trees outside were still burned to a crisp. The blast should have reached this far. How the hell is this still standing? It's impossible! Nothing could have shielded it-"

Meteora paused mid-syllable as she realized that she might be wrong once again. Something could have shielded it. The most convenient thing in the universe. Magic.

"Someone…" She started. "Did someone use a spell to protect this place? Why? Who would want to save this train wreck of a house? And who lives here that could _possibly _use magic? The town hermit?"

Meteora groaned loudly at the lack of answers and continued looking around, eventually finding what appeared to be some kind of living room, the far wall almost entirely taken up by a line of portraits of green beaked monsters, with them of them being much larger than the rest and showing somebody she recognized instantly.

"What the...Brudo?" She said as she moved closer to the painting, making sure she got a good look. And it was Brudo, along with the rest of his family. Several of looked exactly the same, with only one really standing out to her, appearing at the bottom of the frame and and wearing some kind of skull hat.

Meteora remembered where she had heard about that hat. The small guy had to be Ludo. Jenkins had told them once had Ludo wore that exact same kind of hat, and was rather small as well. Meteora found him rather underwhelming, even if Jenkins had told her that that was what he was.

After looking at the various portraits for several minutes, she grew more and more bothered by the her nose continuing to bleed, making her arm look like it had been turned inside out. She angrily let go of her nose and waved her hand around, throwing drops of blood everywhere, including onto the paintings.

But the second a single drop landed on the largest painting, specifically right onto Ludo's face, she nearly jumped out of her shoes at the sounds of footsteps behind her, followed by loud shouting.

"HEYHEYHEY BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!"

The voice was both squeaky and rasp, and Meteora's immediate response to this was for her entire right arm to glow bright green and to point her hand at whoever was behind her. She spun around in an instant and did just that, shoving her hand in the face of an unfamiliar and short figure.

Instantly the figure stopped its yelling and backed away from Meteora, giving her a good look at itself. It was one of the monsters in the painting. One with wings for arms and wearing an extremely oversized shirt as it's only article of clothing. Both of them stared at each other in shock, Meteora because she wasn't expecting someone to be there and the monster because it saw Meteora's arm and quickly recognized it as magic.

"Uh, please don't hurt me." It whimpered. "I was just trying to warn you about being careful with the paintings."

"Who are you." Meteora demanded, taking a few steps forward. She didn't want to take any chances, no matter how harmless this person looked. If they had survived this long, then there had to be more than this...pitiful thing she saw before her.

"My name is Cudo." The figure said. "I'm one of the sons of Brudo Avarius. I've been living here my whole life, I have over a dozen siblings, my family has been hated for years, I-"

"Okay, shut up." Meteora said. "Geez, just tell me the whole story, why don't you. Slow down."

"Sorry." Cudo said. "But it's kind of hard for me to stay calm when you look ready to blast me in the face at any moment."

Meteora glanced at her arm, still burning bright with magical energy. She didn't realize how terrifying that must have been for "Cudo", if that was even his real name. But the tone in his voice indicated true fear, so Meteora decided that it would be best to trust whatever he said. Her arm faded back to it's normal color and she lowered it to her side, although she made sure to keep her ears and eyes open for any noises or shadows. She didn't want to take _too_ many chances.

"Alright." She said. "Tell me what you just said, again, but a little slower this time."

"Okay." Cudo said, still trembling slightly. "My name is Cudo, my dad is Brudo Avarius, and I live here along with my other dozen or some siblings. We're all hated by everyone else in town."

'Avarius?' Meteora thought. 'Hold on, didn't my mom say that they all died in the apocalypse? What the hell is this? Where-no. Figure that out later. Work with what you have now. Bit by bit. What did he just say…? Oh right, they were hated.'

"Don't you mean you _were _hated?" Meteora asked. "No offense, but considering this places location, I have no doubt that everyone's forgotten about you. Not there's anybody left to hate you…"

"Hey, that's not nice!" Cudo said. "Sure, we're kind of forgettable, but there are still people that care about us! They just haven't visited in a while. And-wait, what do you mean there's no one left?"

"Well...nobody left to hate you I'd an exaggeration." Meteora said. "I suppose that counting the people staying in the underworld, as well as everybody at my moms...base, or whatever you want to call that, there are still some survivors left."

"Survivors?" Cudo asked, tilting his head at her. "What do you mean?"

"Wha-you-the ones left!" Meteora yelled, dumbfounded by the question. "The people who survived the apocalypse!"

"Apocalypse?!" Cudo gawped, as if hearing the word for the first time. "Did the world end or something!?"

"YES!" Meteora yelled. "What do you mean, "did the world end or something?" Have you been outside lately? It's literally all burned to ashes!"

"It is?" Cudo asked. "I haven't been outside in a decade and a half…"

This time, it was Meteora's turn to tilt her head. "What."

"I haven't been outside in fifteen years." Cudo repeated. "My dad said never to go outside because people will attack us because they hate us, so we stay in here and use the food supply in the basement. That should last us a few more years, and then we might have to go get more."

"I-are you-what the fuck?" Meteora cursed. "You...you really don't know? You really don't know what happened?"

"No." Cudo said. "Did the world really end?"

"Yeah." Meteora said, a thousand questions going through her mind. "Seth of Septaris blew it all to hell with hundreds of nukes. Almost everything is gone. Seriously, how did you not know? I get it if you didn't want to go outside because everyone you don't want to be attacked, but did you never look out any of the windows? Hear the blast? See the light? Feel the radiation and heat? The forest outside is nonexistent! Nothing but dead trees! How?! How the hell?!"

"We weren't allowed to do anything but stay in here!" Cudo said, still processing the whole "end of the world" thing. "No looking outside, we had to stay in here no matter what, it's basically been a miniature prison."

"But...but the blast." Meteora said. "The light you should have seen. The noise it would have made. You should have seen and heard all of that, even from here."

"Well, if that all happened, then we didn't know."

"Right." Meteora said, unconvinced. "Now before I get to the bigger questions, I think I should try and cool my disbelief by asking a few smaller ones. Why did you yell at me earlier? Wouldn't you have been afraid? Thought I was one of the people who would have attacked you?"

"Yeah, but I was more concerned about the paintings."

Cudo said. "They've been in our family for generations, and our father always said to take care of them. Then you came in and started splattering blood everywhere. Which by the way, you're still staining the carpet with."

Meteora looked down and saw that her nose was still refusing to stop its bleeding, and was painting the carpet a new shade of red. She sighed and grabbed her nose again, confused as to why it hadn't stopped.

"Sorry about that." She said. "Got a tissue or something?"

"Yeah, give me a second." Cudo said, walking off and then returning a moment later, an old napkin in his hand. He handed it to Meteora who gingerly covered her nose with it, and she spoke up again.

"Anyways, back to the questions." She continued. "Where is everybody else? Where's your father? More than anyone, I'd like to ask him some things, if what you're telling me about him is true."

"He's upstairs." Cudo said. "Asleep. Everybody is. I only woke up because I had to go to the bathroom, and then I heard the door crash in. Nobody else heard because we're all super deep sleepers when it comes to noise. So then I came down, and I found you."

"Yeah?" Meteora asked, not posing it as a question. "Why don't you go look outside the door and tell me what you see. It'll be a good start to show you what's _really _been happening outside."

"But...the people who hate us. They'll attack-"

"No, they won't." Meteora said, realizing that he had pretty much been brainwashed. "There's nobody outside. Not anymore. And why would anyone hang out outside your house all day just to attack you?"

"I guess that makes sense…"

"It does." Meteora. "Now go and look. Fifteen years of being lied to, I think it's time the truth got out."

Cudo hesitated for a moment, but soon walked away from Meteora and entered the foyer. He trembled upon seeing the door on the ground, it's hinges having come off with it. Slowly and steadily, he peeked out at where the door once was, expecting a large crowd of people, and braced himself for a bottle to the face.

But he saw something much worse. He saw the truth. He audibly gasped at the sight of the destroyed forest, no leaves, no grass, not a single living thing. The silence that had come from the forest crept into the house, and the only thing he could hear was his own panicked breathing.

He didn't want to believe what he was seeing so hard that it almost hurt to stare at it all, and he quickly looked away from the scene, gasping for air as if he had been holding his breath.

Trembling, he walked back over time Meteora, struggling to find the right words.

"You...you were telling the truth." He said, his eyes gazing down at the floor. "It's really all gone. Is the whole world like that?"

"Yeah. Pretty much." Meteora answered. "There are likely a few parts that are _somewhat _good for plants to grow in, but most everything is like the forest. Dead. Even after fifteen years, it's gonna take a while for stuff to start growing again."

"Fifteen years…" Cudo said, echoing her words. "That's how long we haven't been outside for. That's how long my dad forced all my remaining family today in this house. Did-did he know this was gonna happen?"

"Maybe." Meteora said. "Maybe he was in kahoots with Seth. Maybe he knew it was all happening. Or maybe he just had his own reasons. I don't care. But you know what, I'm gonna get the answers to those questions."

"Those were more statements really."

"That's great." Meteora said. "Now go up stairs and wake him up. If you don't, then I'll do it for you."

Cudo gulped and nodded, walking over to the stairs and heading up them. Halfway up, he turned around back towards Meteora, preparing to ask one last question for her.

"One last thing…" He said. "Who should I say is here to see him?"

"Oh, tell him Meteora Butterfly is here." She said. "I expect that should wake him up."

"Meteora Butterfly?" Cudo asked, his eyes widening. "_The_ Meteora Butterfly? Holy-wow, I didn't even recognize you. It's an honor to meet you."

"It is?" Meteora asked, now greatly confused. "Am I famous or something?"

"Kind of, yeah!" Cudo said. "You were seen as the perfect combination of the union between Mewmans and monsters. Proof that we could coexist. You were really well known. All the monster children and some of the adults admired you."

"I was kind of a baby back then…"

"Eh, your age didn't matter." Cudo claimed. "We still saw you as something amazing, even if you couldn't speak."

"All the monster children…" Meteora wondered out loud. "Even Katrina?"

"Katrina?" Cudo asked. "Wait, are you talking about one of Buff frogs daughters? Have you seen them?"

"Uhh…" Meteora said, rubbing the back of her head. On one hand, if Cudo was friends with them before he and the rest of his family got shut into their house, then it was only fair for her to tell him about Katrina. But on the other hand, Mariposa did tell her what Katrina had, and that involved most of her siblings dying of radiation, a particularly gruesome and slow death. Well, time for a white lie. It was the best she could do at the moment.

"Yeah." She said eventually. "They're good. They're okay. But back to our main topic, I really need to ask your father a few things, so can you go get him now?"

"Sure sure…" Cudo said. "Oh wait! I can't believe I already forgot about that! How do you have magic? I saw your arm glow up and stuff. I thought it was destroyed."

Meteora groaned silently. "It was, but not entirely. It's contained in atoms, and it takes an incredible amount of willpower to summon up. There's more, but it would take too long to explain."

"Hmm...one last _last _thing." Cudo said.

"What?" Meteora growled, getting slightly annoyed at this point.

"What's an atom?"

"It's a-you know what, I'm not in the mood for a science lecture, and I only have the scarcest idea do what it is either. Now can you please-"

"Yeah yeah!" Cudo said. "I'll go get him. Jeez…"

Cudo disappeared up the stairs, and Meteora rolled her eyes and walked back into the painting room, before setting herself down in one of its chairs. Grabbing the tissue she had stuck up her nose, she took it out only to be met with more blood dripping onto her shirt, and she quickly shoved it back in and started shaking in anger.

'Why won't this stop bleeding?!' She thought, starting to get worried about it. 'It should have stopped by now. I didn't hear any cracking when I feel on top of it, so I don't think I it's broken, but it just won't stop! At this rate, I'll start to pass out. If this is how I die, blood loss from a nosebleed, then I'll haunt this place forever. Hm. Okay, that's a stupid threat.'

Her inner monologue was interrupted by loud voices suddenly coming from the top of the stairs, and she looked in their direction to see Brudo quite literally fall down them crown first, landing in a heap at the bottom. He looked exactly how the portrait portrayed him, and looked like he hadn't aged a day since that time Meteora saw him in the Voice's meeting memory.

Scrambling to his feet, Brudo looked around and saw the fallen door, and loudly made a noise that was a mix between a cry of despair and a scream of terror, before rushing over to it, grabbing it off the floor and then propping it back up against the doorway. As if he had just completely some great and exhausting task, he panted heavily and backed away, making sure it would stay up for the moment.

He then slowly turned to his right and spotted Meteora sitting in his favorite chair, and what followed could only be described as a somewhat unfortunate affair.

"Hey." Meteora said, beginning their inevitable chat. "You're Brudo, right?"

"I am." Brudo said easily, walking into the painting room. "And you're sitting in my favorite chair."

"Right, sorry." Meteora said, not sounding sorry at all. She got up and casually took a seat in another chair, completely calm.

Brudo huffed and strolled over time his chair and sat down, leaning back and setting his arms on the armrests.

"So, I have a few questions for-"

"You need to go." Brudo said, stopping her mid-sentence. "You're not supposed to be here. I've been keeping my family safe from the outside for years, and I intend to keep it that way"

"Cutting straight to the point, eh? Well, if by keeping them safe, you mean brainwashing." Meteora griped. "Do you even know what happened out there? About the apocalypse?"

"I know full well." Brudo responded. "They don't need to. They never will. I'll convince Cudo that it was all a dream, I'll fix that door, you will leave, and life will go back to normal."

"You're not really in a position to be making demands." Meteora said. "Don't expect to just leave when you tell me to. I sent Cudo to fetch you because I want answers, so _you're _gonna answer for me. And then I'll leave, depending on what you tell me."

Brudo scoffed. "What is this? Some attempt to be intimidating? Go ahead and kill me if you're going too. I'm sure every single person out in that wasteland had done it eventually. But it won't work. Killing me won't do anything. I've been keeping my family safe. If lying to them is the way to do it, then so be it."

"I thought you only cared about your stickers." Meteora stated, the memories of the meeting she saw fresh in her mind.

"Yes, well, those ran out a few years ago." Brudo mourned. "And how do you even know about that? Did Cudo tell you?"

"Nope." Meteora said. "I learned it from...another source. But are you _really _doing this for your family?"

"With my stickers gone, I had nothing else to worry about." Brudo said. "So, I started worrying about them. Besides, if they died, then I'd have to open the door to get rid of the body and risk them seeing it all."

"Wow, you are a terrible person." Meteora said, disgusted. "You only care about them because you have nothing else."

"Don't insult me." Brudo fumed, leaning forward in his chair. "We all have problems. Some more than others. I never claimed to be a good person, and I never will. For me, humility is all I got. Yes, I'm a terrible person, but I don't care."

"That doesn't make it okay," Meteora said. "In this world, you should cherish what few people you have left because one day they might not be there. Not cherish them because you'd have to get rid of a body if they died."

"Oh please." Brudo said, rolling his enormous yellow eyes. "Family family family, that's all that's important. Don't you think I know that? Without my family fortune, I wouldn't have this house. I know it's garbage, but it's livable. It's what we have."

"Yeah, garbage is a good word for it." Meteora said. "But why-"

"No, I'm not done." Brudo said. "I can see what you are in those eyes of yours. You can tell a lot from a person's eyes. I've learned to be able to tell almost everything. You've killed people out there. You've done terrible things yourself. Don't whine that I'm a bad person _Meteora_." He spat at her. "Because you've done worse. At least I've never taken a life."

Meteora shrank in her seat as she reflect on everything Brudo just said. He made several good points. When it came to it, she wasn't a good person either. Sure, she tried to help people, but the cost, the mountain of bodies she left behind her, was growing by the day. The cost was too high, and one day that mountain might collapse and bury her.

"Nothing to say?" Brudo asked. "I thought not. You're a hypocrite to insult me. Now leave this house and never come back. I don't know how you've survived out there, I don't know if you're with anyone else, but I don't really care. Leave. Now."

Meteora took a deep breath and gripped the ends of the chairs armrests. "No." She said. "I'm not leaving. Not until I get answers. I want to know how _you've _survived."

"I would tell you, but I think you're running short on time." Brudo said, a knowing smile spread across his face. "You might want to leave before that nosebleed of yours kills you."

Meteora felt at her nose again and looked at the tissue. She let out a silent gasp as she saw that it wasn't even white anymore, but completely red. Long after it should have stopped, her nose still wouldn't cease it's bleeding, and Meteora got a cold, dark feeling in her chest.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "Did you do something to me?"

Brudo shook his head. "No. I didn't do anything. But how about I answer two of your questions at the same time. You want to know how I survived? How my family survived? This is how. We don't know."

"The hell do you mean you don't know?" Meteora asked. "Cudo told me that you had a food supply that would run out in a while. Which is, by the way, kind of impressive. How did you even manage to get that much food? And prevent it from spoiling?"

"Pft. We've had that supply for years." Brudo said. "The second the two worlds merged, all my children wanted to buy Earth food like the little varmints they are. So they used every scrap of money they had to buy it. It damn near emptied the entire store."

"...Okay, that's sounds really unlikely." Meteora said. "That would cost an absolutely insane amount of money to empty a store like that, and even then, how did you get it all back here? Did you use a dump truck?"

"Only they know that." Brudo scoffed. "I don't know where they got all the money, _probably stole it_, and I don't know how they got it all back here. But the point is is that they bought all the food, I was furious, but I knew we just couldn't get rid of it, so I hired some people to build a giant hole in the ground and we put it all in there. We've been living off it for years."

Meteora eyelid suddenly felt like they weighed a hundred pounds and she buried her head in her hands. "Nononono." She said. "First off, the hell? Second off, the fuck? Third off, I don't believe that. Why didn't the food spoil? Why didn't anybody investigate you after buying that insane amount of food? Why did you build a giant hole to put it all in? Don't you have a cellar or something? Just how much food is there that it's lasted for a decade and a half and apparently is going to last a few years more? Just-I-WHAT?!

"I know it sounds unlikely," Brudo said. "But it's the truth."

"I'm still calling bullshit." Meteora said. "But you said that your answer would answer two questions. What was the second one?"

"Oh yes." Brudo said. "Actually three. You also asked why the food doesn't spoil. That's because...it just doesn't."

"Huh?"

"It just doesn't spoil." Brudo repeated. "No matter how long we've had it, no matter how long we keep it, it doesn't go bad. No mold, no bad taste, nothing. It's explicably stayed fresh for fifteen years, and we have no idea why."

"I…" Meteora started, unsure of what to say next. She was in complete disbelief. Everything she heard sounded like it was made up on the spot, nothing but a lazy lie. Food that didn't spoil for no reason? His children bought so much food that they survived for years? Bullshit! It had to be something else. Something Brudo wasn't telling her. Unless, of course…

"Brudo." She said. "Do you know anything about magic?"

"Magic?" Brudo said, puzzled at the question. "It was destroyed years ago by that butterfly girl. It's no longer around."

"Wrong." Meteora started. "Magic is still around. It's still on this world. In places, portals...and people."

"What are you getting at?" Brudo asked her. "Magic is still around? Don't make me laugh. I haven't seen a single bit of magic since the merge. No one has. It is dead. And if you think I'm going to believe your lies, then-

"Solis." Meteora said, and instantly a blinding white light erupted from her hand, so bright that both Brudo and Meteora had to look away. Brudo covered his eyes and waved his hand at Meteora, begging her to turn it off. She soon consented and closed her own eyes, concentrated, and the light vanished.

"So." She said. "Do you believe me now?"

"Ugh...yes." Brudo groaned. "But next time you do that, could you make it a little less bright? How did you even learn-"

"At the Lucitor castle." Meteora interrupted. "I found it in a spellbook. First time I used it, I nearly burned my eyeballs out, and I never thought it would come in handy again. Although I suppose it's the perfect spell to show people that magic's still around."

"No kidding…" Brudo complained. "But so what? Magic is still around? That's great. But I don't care. Even if it's still around, it hasn't affected me or my family at all until you showed up, so it doesn't make a difference to me."

"That's not true." Meteora said. "Magic might have been the thing that's saved you from starvation."

"How so?"

"You said your food doesn't spoil. No matter what. While I didn't believe that I first, I think that there could actually be some truth behind it. I think that magic somehow got into that food and prevented it from spoiling."

"Really?" Brudo asked. "That's your explanation?"

"Do you have a better one?" Meteora asked. "Because I sure don't."

"I don't either." Brudo responded. "But you know what, if that's what's keeping it fresh, then I don't mind. As long as it keeps it up."

"Fine. But back to the questions. What was the final answer you had?"

"Oh, that?" Brudo scoffed. "Regarding your question about your nose, I would suggest you leave. You see, I have already lost one of my children to something in this house. One day, Manudo? One of my sons, cut his arm. And it bled a little. But it didn't stop bleeding. It bled and bled and bled until he was a corpse on the ground. The bleeding never stopped. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"Why didn't it stop?" Meteora asked, the nervous feeling in her chest amplifying. "Shouldn't it have cauterized?"

"Oh, it should have." Brudo said. "But it didn't. Look around you. Look at the objects in this house. Do you see anything about them? Any peculiar?"

Meteora paused and slowly turned her head and looked around the room, trying to see if there was anything...off about the furniture. But it looked normal at first glance. The chairs were normal, the few lamps were normal, despite all being circular, the picture frames were normal, although their edges were curved rather than edged. It seemed like-

Like…

"It's...its all blunt." Meteora said, taking a second glance around the room. "There's not a single sharp edge on any one of those objects."

Brudo nodded. "That's right. Nothing sharp. Nothing that could cut us. Everything is circular or has its edges curved. We couldn't take any chances. Wounds in this house...they don't heal. They bleed. They bleed until the person who has been cut dies from it. We tried to cauterize Manudo's wound with heat, but the blood...I don't even want to say it. It was bad."

Meteora got up from her chair as she realized what this meant. That was why her nose hadn't stopped it's bleeding. Something in the house was causing it. Probably the same thing that made it so the food didn't spoil, if that part of Brudo's story was true. If she stayed here, then that nosebleed would kill her. She had to get out. She was already starting to feel a little dizzy, and she decided that there wasn't much time left. Whatever information she wanted to get out of Brudo, she needed it _now._

"Okay." She said, speaking as quick as she could. "What about a torquinet? Haven't you tried that?"

"Tried it. Didn't work." Brudo said. "Just like with the whole cauterization by fire thing we attempted, the blood didn't stop. It never stopped."

"Fine. But what about the-"

"Leave." Brudo demanded. "I'm not here to answer your questions, and I also don't want to have to clean your body up. I'm going to have to be doing enough cleaning already what with the blood you've spread all over the place."

Meteora bit her lip and took a deep breath. "Fine. But this isn't over. Expect a few more visitors sometime today. You've hidden here for fifteen years. You shouldn't have expected that nobody would ever stumble upon it eventually."

"Honestly, I'm more surprised that nobody else has stumbled upon it before you." Brudo said. "Now are you going to leave?"

"Yeah." Meteora said. "Goodbye. For now."

Brudo huffed and Meteora left the room, before grabbing the front door and pushing it back to the ground like a child through a tantrum. She exited the house and left it behind, noticing that the second she left the porch, her nosebleed had immediately ceased. Brudo had been telling her the truth. It had been something in the house.

Meteora took one last look at the place and then walked off, heading back towards Mariposa. Hopefully Jenkins had gotten those packs, and then she could tell him about Brudo and he would get the real answers. But she still wondered. Her mother had told her that the entire Avarius family had died. That Ludo had left because of it. But if the Avarius's had shut themselves away soon after the merge, then why would they think they died? Just an assumption? Maybe, but it didn't really make sense.

She decided that that was a mystery for another time, and she could only focus on the current one at hand. Or ones. There were so many mysteries, so many questions waiting to be answered.

Meteora speed-walked down the path, careful to avoid any more planks of wood, until the path need and the first cleared. She looked around and saw Jenkins walking towards another section of the forest, the expression on his face being one of anger and fatigue. But he had the packs. Meteora walked along the tree line and followed him into the woods, until he made it back to the camp where Mariposa was waiting.

"Where's Meteora?" He asked her. "I thought I told you guys not to run off."

"Technically, you told not to leave Echo creek. You never said we couldn't leave this area. But I don't know where she is. I saw her leave about a half hour ago and...huh. Nevermind. Turn around."

Jenkins looked begin him and saw Meteora coming up on them both, looking like she had been on hold with a local cable company for two hours.

"...What happened to your shirt?" Jenkins asked, greatly concerned. "Is that dried blood?"

Meteora looked down and saw that the blood that had painted her shirt a different color had now dried, and looked like an obscure map of some random island in the middle of the ocean.

"Uh, yeah." She said. "I tripped earlier and fell on my face, and my nose started bleeding. I'm fine though. You don't have to be worried."

"Still am." Jenkins said. "That is an insane amount of blood for a nosebleed. Come here. I wanna make sure your nose isn't broken. Can't have more injuries on my watch."

"It's not." Meteora said confidently. "But...I did find something out there in the woods."

"Is that so? What'd you find? Food? Water? A creepy cabin?"

"Well, your last guess is kinda correct…" Meteora said, shrugging. "I did find an old house. It's a real wreck."

"You found an abandoned house?" Jenkins asked. "Hm. No surprise there. It was probably Lord Brudo's old house. Ludo's dad. For whatever reason, he never allowed any of his kids to leave the house after the merge. Only he ever left, coming to an occasional meeting. Don't tell me you found their bodies or something."

"I didn't find any bodies." Meteora said. "But I did find them."

Jenkins froze in place and twisted/tilted his head at Meteora, his mouth slowly dropping open.

"You...you what?" He asked, slightly laughing as if it was all a joke.

"I...I found them." Meteora repeated. "They're all still there. They survived the apocalypse. Brudo was the only one who knew, because he never let any of his kids go outside, and they survived with some kind of-"

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh." Jenkins said, putting his hand up. "They're still alive? Still living there? After all this time?"

"Yup. Brudo said that they have a food supply that doesn't spoil for some reason. I have my own theories on that…"

Mariposa, who had been unusually quiet for the past few minutes, got up off the ground and joined their conversation, also shocked by the things she was hearing.

"How many?" She asked. "How many of them are there?"

"A lot." Meteora said. "A dozen-something? One of them, named Cudo, said it was along those lines. I believe only one of them ever died, and it was some kid named Manudo because he bled out from a small cut on his arm."

"This is going too fast." Jenkins said. "One thing at a time. One thing at a time. Okay, ummm...how did they survive? Even if the blast didn't reach the house, _which it should have_, how did they survive the radiation?"

"I think I know how." Mariposa chimed in. "Some monsters are completely immune to radiation. Katrina told me so. That might be how some of them survived. Maybe Brudo's entire family is immune to it as well."

"The _entire _family? I doubt that." Jenkins disagreed. "But even if they were all immune, how could they just sit there for years without anybody stumbling on them?"

"Brudo said I was the first." Meteora answered. "He also said he was surprised that I was. I guess nobody expected to find anything useful in the woods, and everybody that knew that house was out there is either dead or just doesn't care."

"That's possible. How else do they survive?" Jenkins asked her. "You said some an "unspoiled" food supply."

"Uh, well, it's just that." Meteora said. "They have some gigantic food supply, and Brudo said that the food never spoils, although I have my doubts as to whether this supply even exists in the first place, or if it's something else."

"I'd say something else." Jenkins stated. "Okay. One last question for you. After that, I'm going there myself and getting the rest of the answers. Did that Voice in your head say anything about this?"

"Did the-oh!" Meteora exclaimed, realizing she had completely forgotten about the Voice. What had it been doing this whole time? It was rare for it to be this quiet for this long. She had been so caught up in the other thing that the Voice has been buried in her mind.

"It...didn't say anything." She finally said. "In fact, it's been quiet for a while."

"Tch. Fine with me." Jenkins said. "Just the three of us then. Come on. We're leaving."

"We're leaving?" Mariposa asked. "Wait, are we actually going to that old house?"

"Of course." Jenkins said. "I want answers. Whatever Brudo did to survive all this time, I need to know how. So let's go make some new friends."

And so they set off, with Mariposa begrudgingly following them, and a person high in the sky watched them go.

**End chapter 29**

**A/N: New friends indeed, although I don't think Jenkins and Brudo will get along.**

**So, those guys are still alive. They'll play a part. The end of this arc will definitely feature them, and as for the next chapter, we'll have more questions, (always fun), a few surprises for our protagonists, and perhaps a flashback or two.**

**But anyways, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	30. Chapter 30: Painful truths

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 30**

**Painful truths **

As Lord Brudo watched Meteora walk away from his house through a crack in the door, he sighed in relief and once again propped it up as best he could. Which was still totally amateurish, as the door would fall over with the slightest push. He grumbled at this and went back to his chair, adding the broken door to his list of "later" problems. His fingernails dug into the armrests as he thought about the consequences of the broken door. He wasn't even sure if he had the tools necessary to repair it in the first place.

But that wasn't even the biggest problem right now. He still had to tell Cudo that Meteora's visit had all been a dream, and to come up with a way to make it so that everyone stayed upstairs before Meteora came back with whoever it was she was bringing. While also convincing his family that nothing was wrong and nobody else was there in the process.

It was all going to take a pretty convincing lie. So it was probably best to just start now. As much as he didn't want to get up from his chair, somethings just took priority.

Moaning as if he was undertaking some enormous and draining task, he sat up and walked over to the stairs, letting his feet drag behind him. The scowl on his face got more and more noticeable as he thought about all the problems that Meteora might cause. She never had told him who she was traveling with, but depending on who it was, he might not be able to shoo them off as easily as he did to her.

Even worse, this could ruin everything. His blood boiled at the thought. So many years of careful preparations, lying, and keeping it all a secret. All for it to tumble down now. Why now? Why couldn't they have just continued living in peace, his family believing a false fantasy?!

But that question would have to wait. There was another, more important one on his mind. Did she suspect anything? Did she know? She had to know that he was lying about _something_, but she didn't know exactly what. If she discovered the truth about the so-called food supply, about why they had really survived all this time, then the best he could hope for at this point was a quick death. He had made a promise to keep it a secret, no matter what, and now that little hybrid abomination, the "perfect example" of unity between monsters and Mewmans, was about to tear it all down.

He couldn't have that. As he racked his brain with ideas about how to stage a proper counterattack when Meteora came back with whoever she was with, he made his way up the stairs towards the bedrooms. One of them was for him and his wife, one of them was Dennis's, and the other was just a giant communal room. But even that wasn't enough all the time, so a good deal of his children just slept in the hall. Which was exactly what they were doing right now. Brudo grinned slightly upon seeing that Cudo has listened to him and hadn't woken everybody up. That would have been a disaster, both for him and everybody else. Now the only thing left to do with him was to convince him that it wasn't real.

As Brudo made it to the end of the hall, carefully stepping over his snoozing children, he found Cudo where he told him to wait, standing next to a broken vase and a wooden stool that looked like it had been to hell and back.

He cleared his throat, and prepared to do what he did best in this household. Lie.

"Cudo!" He said, before lowering his voice to a whisper. "What are you doing up?"

Cudo tilted his head and looked at his father as if he was another planet, doubtless confused by what appeared to be a sudden loss of memory.

"Ummm...what are you talking about?" Cudo asked. "You told me to stand here and wait for you, so that's what I've been doing."

"I did no such thing." Brudo mumbled. "I just woke up to use the bathroom downstairs, and now I find you here, standing around and staring at nothing like an idiot. Why are you awake, rather than napping along with everyone else? And don't give me any nonsense excuse."

Despite Cudo still being confused as anyone ever was, he could tell in his father's tone that he was just as confused. He really didn't know anything. But he couldn't have been dreaming about Meteora, could he? It had all been so real! The door lying on the floor, the burned out world outside, the blood dripping on the floor, it had been real! It had to-

"Well?!" Brudo asked expectantly. "I don't have all day here boy. Why are you awake?"

"I...had to use the bathroom, just like you." Cudo said.

Which, technically, wasn't a lie. "That's all."

"Hm. Well go and use the bathroom then. Downstairs one, so you don't wake up your siblings. Also, when you go back to sleep, put a blanket over your head so you muffle your own voice. I heard you talking in your sleep earlier. Something about Meteora butterfly and how the world ended."

"Oh…" Cudo said, his eyes darting to the side. Talking in his sleep? Had it really been a dream? he still wasn't completely sure with that answer. He had to make sure. And he knew how.

"Well, I'm gonna go now." He said, pushing past his father and going downstairs, using the bathroom being the furthest thing from his mind.

Brudo watched him go and then rubbed his face, a disaster narrowly avoided. That could have gone badly. Luckily for him that even after fifteen years, every single person in his house was still as gullible as ever. But it made sense, considering that the house-

"KNEW IT!" A shrill voice from downstairs screeched. Brudo literally jumped out of his slippers, while all the members of the Avarius family twisted and turned in their sleep, but didn't wake. Brudo pulled his slippers back on as fast he could and ran down the stairs, nearly jumping the last five. He looked around frantically for Cudo, and saw him in the painting room standing next to the family portrait.

"I knew it." He said, pointing to a small red spot on it. "I knew you weren't telling the whole truth. I wasn't talking in my sleep! That dream hadn't been a dream at all!"

"What are you talking abo-" Brudo started, before he saw what Cudo was pointing at and his heart rate doubled out of fear at the sight.

It was a single small speck of blood. Not yet completely dried, and laying directly on Ludo's face. It almost seemed to fit.

"Oh shit." Brudo said out loud, knowing that there was no way he could get out of _this _one. At least, not unless he thought of something fast.

"Oh! That!" Brudo said, laughing nervously. "No need to worry Cudo. I don't know what you think that is, but it's not that. You see, I was carrying some…...paint cans earlier, and I slipper, and they spilled open. Yes. Paint cans. I cleaned it up as best they could, but it seems I missed a spot or two."

"Or twenty." Cudo said, looking down at the various drops of blood staining the carpet. "And paints cans? Really? That's the best you can come up with dad?"

"Well, what do you think it is?" Brudo asked. "And don't disrespect me like that boy. Do you need another reminder over who has kept this family safe from the people outside? From the ones who hate and-"

"And don't exist?" Cudo said, hardly posing it as a question. "You know, one hour ago, I would have believed you. I would be treating you with the biggest respect right now, listening to your every word as if it was the law. Although after what I saw outside, what Meteora showed me, I wonder if anything you've said is the truth."

"You dare?" Brudo demanded, taking a step towards him. "What did I just say? Do not. Disrespect. Me! You and your crazy ideas Cudo. Where are you getting them from? Who put those thoughts in your head? Whatever you saw outside, you merely dreamt. Nothing more! Now-"

"Then why is the door broken?" Cudo asked, knowing he had his father stuck in a corner. "Who did that?"

"The people outside." Brud quickly said, fully aware that he was losing control of the situation. "They tried to break in while you were all asleep, so I stopped them. Chased them off."

"But if the doors broken, then why aren't they getting in right now?" Cudo asked. "They could just walk in whenever they wanted. What's keeping them from that? Is it because they've never been there at all dad? Is it because they've all been dead for fifteen years?!"

Brudo winced. How much did Meteora tell him? He didn't know what to do. He was fresh out of ideas here. He had to do something, _anything _that would ensure Cudo believed him.

"Listen Cudo." Brudo said, starting to sweat. "I am telling you the truth here. We cannot turn against each other in here, so please believe me. If we fight amongst ourselves, then we'll be doing the work for them!" He pointed at a boarded up window. "They would love to see us tear each other apart! They will attack us on sight! They-"

"I'd like to test that theory." Cudo said. "Let's go outside. Let's see if anyone's really out there. If they are, then I'll believe you. But if I see what I saw earlier, what Meteora told me to go and see, _a burned-out wasteland that you kept hidden from us,_ then I'm telling everyone, and you're going to tell us why you hid it from us."

"Don't be stupid." Brudo said. "They _will _attack you. You will bleed. And you know what will happen next. Remember Manudo…"

"Yeah...the bleeding." Cudo said, reminiscing on Manudo's death. "I wonder if you have something to do with that too. I mean it's obviously not natural. It wasn't a part of the house before the merge. Before you _shut us in_. Did you do that? Did you kill Manudo?"

"You-you-how dare you!" Brudo yelled, furious. "I would never hurt Manudo. Out of all of you ungrateful little scamps, Manudo was one of my favorites! It broke my heart the day he died!"

"Oh please." Cudo said. "You never had any favorites. You never really cared for any of us. Not even mom. You only cared for your stupid stickers, and when those ran out, the only thing you cared about was keeping us in here. You know it's almost funny. I would never had said these things to you before. Hell, I'm not even sure if I knew them before now. But after I saw what's really outside, everything's becoming clearer by the second. It's almost like I was blind before, blind to the truth."

"There is no "truth" Cudo." Brudo stated. "No truth except for what I'm telling you!"

"Then let's do what I said!" Cudo yelled, his voice rising. "Let's take a peek outside! If they attack me and I bleed to death, then that's the way it's gonna be! But I know that that dream was no dream at all! It was too real. And it made too much sense now that I think about it…"

"You...you...no. No!" Brudo yelled. "I am your father. You will listen to me Cudo. You will go back upstairs and go back to your nap. You will never speak of this, as there is nothing to be spoken about."

"But I-"

"Quiet!" Brudo roared. "You are testing my patience here, if there is even any left. Stammering on about your fantasies of a world where I haven't protected all of you from danger, one where I've lied for a good deal of your life, and one where you met _Meteora butterfly _of all people."

"But I saw her here!" Cudo said. "She was here! She was standing right here! She was-"

"Cudo. Go upstairs." Brudo dictated. "I will not tell you again. Disobey me one more, tell me another one of your lies, and I will make sure that you-"

_Da da da da, da da_

Both Brudo and Cudo froze in place at the sound of someone knocking on their front door, a sound they hadn't heard for years. They both slowly turned they heads towards the door, looking at it as if they would both die instantly if they opened it.

"You uh, you should probably go answer that." Cudo said. "I think Meteora is back with her friends."

"Stay here and don't move." Brudo growled, walking towards the door, his heartbeat going a mile a minute. Once there, he put his ear up against it and listened. But before he had the time to hear a single sound, the door came crashing down on top of it, and Jenkins quickly stepped in, standing on top of the door and trapping him underneath it.

"Agh! Damn it!" Brudo cursed, before he peeked out from underneath the door saw who had down this to him. "Oh good." He groaned. "It's you. Thought you would have been dead by now."

"I could say the same for you. And you're right. It's me." Jenkins said, flashing him a smile and pushing his foot down harder on the door. "Boy, am I surprised to see you. It looks like you've been up to quite a bit! Holding up out here in the woods, living with your family, surviving the apocalypse, while somehow lying to everyone! Quite the feat you've accomplished! I'm almost impressed Brudo. Almost."

If Brudo could moved at all, then he would have been trying to get as far away from Jenkins as possible. He knew that tone. He had seen it before in meetings. It look cheerful and happy, but Brudo knew that Jenkins was furious. This would not end well for him, and they both knew it.

Behind Jenkins, Meteora and Mariposa came up behind him, checking out the place. Meteora carefully touched her nose, making sure that it wasn't going to start bleeding again, while Mariposa stepped past Brudo and Jenkins and looked around.

All the while Cudo stood where he was, shaking in fear. He caught Jenkins eye and the two stared at each other for a moment.

"I-I know you." Cudo stammered, his words laced with terror.

"Hm. And I don't know you." Jenkins said in response. "Meteora, who's this?"

"That's Cudo." Meteora said. "He was the first person I saw when I got here." She turned her attention towards him, looking at him as if he were an old friend. "Hey Cudo. Sorry we just barged in like this, but it was all Jenkins idea."

"Y-yeah. N-no problem." Cudo said, reflexively taking a few steps away from them. "What are you going to do to him?" He pointed at his father, still struggling from under the door.

"Oh him? I have quite a bit planned for him." Jenkins answered. "But I think the first thing I'll do is have him explain why the hell he's lied to you guys for fifteen years. And how you guys have really survived." He looked down at Brudo. "Your food story is utter bullshit Brudo. Non-spoiling food? Please. None of you know magic, and don't tell me that one of you learned it, because I'd never believe that."

"You're not getting anything out of me." Brudo growled. "Cudo! Go wake up your siblings! Tell them to help me! Chase these guys away and-"

"Oh shut up." Jenkins said. "Brudo, try and realize the kind of situation the two of you are in. I'm standing between Cudo and the stairs. Now take a good look at him. Do you really think he's gonna want to try and fight me to get to them."

Brudo glanced over at Cudo, who was still trembling so much he was having trouble standing, and it was plain to see that he in no way wanted to fight anyone.

Brudo cursed loudly, and started screaming to try and wake up the others, but Jenkins wasn't having any of that, and he slammed his boot into the side of Brudo's face, silencing him almost instantly.

"Urgh…why are you doing this?!" He choked out. "I know we were never friends before this whole mess, but we weren't mortal enemies either! Why are you acting like this? Have you gone as crazy as the others?!"

"Why? You want to know why?" Jenkins rhetorically asked him. "Because Brudo, you've been lying to your family for years, if what Meteora told me is correct. Imagine how shocked they'll be once they find out the truth of this world. What _really _became of it. All of them, having to face that reality. That's a horrible thing to drop on a person, and it sickens me just to think about it."

"They don't have to know." Brudo said. "You could just leave us be. They're not even awake right now. Only me and Cudo know. You could take him with you, he could survive out there with you, and the rest of us will stay here, ignorant and happ-urk!"

Brudo's monologue was interrupted by Jenkins punching him the throat, revolted by the ideas spewing out of Brudo's mouth. Cudo, after having heard his father's plan of leaving him with Jenkins and the others, almost looked ready to join in the beat down.

"And there it is." Jenkins said. "Am I really hearing what I think I heard? You just told us to take one of your sons, _your own flesh and blood_, to live with us out in that hellscape because you can't risk that he'll tell everybody?! What kind of father are you?!"

"I d-did what I had to." Brudo gurgled, clutching his throat. "What was necessary for me. For all of us! I did it once, I'll do it again. They must never know the truth. Nobody can ever know."

"Too bad." Jenkins scoffed. "You're going to tell them everything. Not because we want to, but because they deserve to know. And then you're going to tell us everything. A good old fashioned interrogation. And as for your earlier comment about us not being enemies, you're right. We weren't enemies Brudo. But times have changed, and out here, friends can become enemies in a second. I know. Meteora and Mariposa know it. We all know it. It's time you and your family knew."

Jenkins then looked at Cudo, no longer trembling, but still scared enough that he could hardly look any of them in the eye.

"Cudo, right?" Jenkins said. "I want you to do something. Go and wake all your siblings up. Tell them to come down here, _but nothing else. _I'm gonna have your father here explain everything to them. Should be one hell of a show."

"T-then what?" Cudo asked.

"Simple. We're going to learn everything we want to know. Right Brudo?"

"Go to hell."

"Hm, we'll have to work on your manners before we get to the questions. Now Cudo, go and do what I told you. Word for word."

"R-right." Cudo said, slowly walking into the foyer and past Brudo and Jenkins. He took one last glance at them both and sprinted up the stairs, before attempting to jostle everybody awake.

"So...should we just wait down here?" Mariposa asked.

"Yup. Actually, both of you grab his arms." Jenkins ordered. "Help me pull him up."

Meteora and Mariposa nodded and moved towards Brudo, but when they got close to him, he started flailing widely and they took a step back.

"Don't touch me!" He yelled at them. "I am a Lord of Mewni! I will not be disrespected in this way! I will not allow myself to be-"

"Nobody cares." Jenkins said. "Even before Earthni was burned to a crisp, you had no real power. And what did you think was going to happen with you playing the lord card? These guys don't care. They don't respect you just because you were a lord."

"Actually, it's mainly the fact that you've got him pinned to the ground and he's whining like a child." Mariposa said. "But sure, let's go with that."

Brudo growled at the numerous insults being delivered to him and kept trying to get up, but Jenkins, already tired of this, got off the door and dragged him up himself.

"Happy now?" He asked, holding Brudo by one of his bathrobes sleeves. "Enjoy that feeling while it lasts. I don't think you're going to be happy after your big reveal. I don't think anyone is."

"I'm not going to tell them _anything_." Brudo snapped at him. "I'd rather die than reveal the truth to them. And you know that if you kill me, then they'll never believe you. I'm the reason not one they'll listen to."

"You're right." Jenkins said. "You are the only one they trust. And I can't kill you. But as for your kids...maybe I'll kill one of them."

"WHAT?!" Brudo, Meteora, and Mariposa all yelled at the same time, shocked that he would even consider such a thing.

"I said, I'll kill one of your kids." Jenkins repeated. "If that doesn't get you to talk, then I'll threaten another, and then down the line we'll go."

Brudo was about to speak, but Meteora stepped inside and interrupted them.

"No. Nononono." She said. "That's-thats going too far. I get we need to hear whatever information he has to spill, but killing a bunch of innocent kids is not the way to do it. If you try that, then...then...then I will stop you. You know I can."

Jenkins rolled his eyes and responded to this by letting go of Brudo and then simultaneously slapping both of his ears at the same time. Brudo let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground clutching them, an insane ringing sound now screaming into his ears. He lay there writhing in agony, temporarily deaf.

"I'm not going to kill any of them." Jenkins quickly said, knowing he was short on time. "Maybe I'd threaten them if he doesn't talk, but I would never actually _hurt _any of them. Why would I? That's not me. That's not what I do. So just go along with it, but know that it won't escalate unless they attack first. Got it?"

Both Meteora and Mariposa exchanged looks and then nodded at the same time, and Jenkins responded with a simple, "good." They both waited until Brudo had finally stopped yelling in pain and panted on his arms and knees, the pain he just suffered almost greater than anything he had ever felt.

"Can you hear me?" Jenkins asked him, raising his voice. "Please say yes. I'm pretty sure I hit you so that I didn't make you permanently deaf, but I'm not sure."

"I can hear you." Brudo growled. "Barely, but it's there. Why did you do that? What was the point?"

"You were pissing me off, and I wanted to teach you a lesson." Jenkins lied, although it wasn't entirely a lie. "Nothing else. Now get up. I think I can hear Cudo coming downstairs with the family…"

Brudo's gaze shifted upwards towards the top of the stairs, where he could see Cudo and the rest of his family crowded around, taking the steps one at a time. All of them looked extremely tired, but the second they saw the sight at the bottom of the steps, they were instantly wide-awake. When every one of them finally got to the stairs and saw what was going on, they all froze, looking like a giant group of statues. Jenkins briefly surveyed them before speaking.

"Hello." He said, trying to be as friendly as possible. "I'm sure many of you recognize me, but if you don't then my name is Jenkins, former leader of the E.D.F., and if you don't know what _that _was, then it was an organization that dealt with extra-dimensional threats that we...took care of, so to speak."

Jenkins then pointed at Meteora and Mariposa, both of whom were just waiting for the whole ordeal to be over.

"As for these two, this is Meteora butterfly, daughter of queen Eclipsa and king Globgor, and the other one is Mariposa Diaz, daughter Angie and Rafael Diaz. Maybe you know those people too or maybe you don't, but in the current moment, it makes little difference."

Everybody at the top of the stairs shifted where they stood, several of them murmuring along themselves as to whether that was really Meteora and Jenkins, as well as a few conversations as to who the heck Mariposa was.

"So," Jenkins continued. "You must be wondering what me and my adoptees are doing here, barging into your home like we own the place. Well, I'm going to be honest, I hadn't planned to be here this morning. None of us had. But Meteora took a walk through the woods, discovered you, and...here we are now."

"Get to the point." Meteora mumbled, leaning in close to him. "I don't think they're just gonna stand around much longer."

Jenkins nodded, and continued talking. "But all that's irrelevant. You see, I just discovered something about a half hour ago. Your brother Cudo discovered it as well. Brudo's know about it his whole life, since he's the one who did it, so to speak. Brudo? Would you like to tell them the truth?"

All eyes fell upon Brudo, still kneeling on the floor and slightly hard of hearing. But he heard enough. He started panicking inside, knowing that he had to either tell his children and wife the truth, or Jenkins might hurt or even kill one of them. He wasn't sure just how truthful Jenkins was being with that threat, but considering the things Brudo saw him do in the past, he wouldn't put us past him to commit such an atrocious act.

"I…" He started, struggling to continue. Seeing his hesitation, Jenkins leaned toward his ears and whispered into it, making sure that the only thing staining his voice was pure malice.

"Tell them." He hissed. "Or you know what I'll do. If you have any heart at all, any part of you that still cares about them even the tiniest bit, then you better start flapping your gums and say what I want you to."

Brudo winced at these words and sighed in defeat. He had no other choice. He looked at his family, staring down at him in shock and confusion. How much did he care about them? He had to do in some way. They were all he had left. No more stickers. No more Mewnian high council. No more nothing.

He knew what he had to do.

"The truth is…" He started, directing his gaze at them. "I lied. I lied about everything. The world outside doesn't hate us. Because it isn't there anymore."

A small gasp emitted from everyone of Brudo's children, but before they could ask him what he meant, Brudo continued on, unable to stop now that he had started.

"What I mean by this is that fifteen years ago, the world, and most of its people, was destroyed by a large number of nukes that had been launched by Seth of Septaris." He revealed, resulting in several more gasps. "We only survived because of the spell, and I locked everyone in here before that because it was told it was coming."

"Spell?" Jenkins asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you-"

"I thought there was no other way." Brudo continued, interrupting him. "So I lied to everyone. You children, my wife, even to myself, and I made sure that you all would survive this mess, no matter what. I did it all for you."

Finally finished, Brudo fell to the floor, grabbing his hair and pulling a few strands out. His children and wife were too appalled to move, while Jenkins, Meteora, and Mariposa were all exchanging glances, wondering what he could have meant by "spell." Meteora, however, wasn't confused by this, but instead intrigued by it. That _was _what she had theorized earlier. That some kind of spell had protected the house, making it impervious to the blast and the radiation. Or was it something else? She was about to think about more, but a voice she didn't recognize spoke up from the crowd of children, and all the theories in her mind came to a standstill.

"You…" The unknown voice said, filled with nothing but rage. "You what? You-you locked us all in here? No. No no, this can't be real."

Everyone looked down at little Snudo, currently having what looked like an existential crisis at the top of the stairs. He fell to his knees and started breathing faster like he was in the middle of a panic attack, and several of his siblings reacted quickly and grabbed him before carrying him off out of view.

"...Sorry about that." Dennis said, the only one of Brudo's children that wasn't overly horrified by the recent revelation. He was still having trouble processing it all, but was doing his best to keep his cool. He had already suspected something was up for years, just not something of this magnitude. He had been partly ready for this. But not a single one could have been fully ready. Even Cudo, who had learned of this a half hour before anyone else, was still in a state of shock. It's one thing to suspect that something is wrong, but it's quite another to find out that you were right, which is exactly what was going on with the Avarius family.

"He does that sometimes." Dennis continued, watching his siblings carry Snudo off. Sensing that more than a few of them were about to either attack Brudo or maybe even kill him for his lies, he turned to them and put on his best serious face.

"All of you go back to the communal bedroom and wait there." He ordered. "Don't do anything else, except wait."

Nobody moved.

"Go!" Dennis yelled, although it was less out of anger and more out of desperation. Everybody flinched at this sudden outburst, and soon retreated back to the bedroom. They all scrambled away, and the only ones that remained were Dennis, Cudo, and Lady Avarius. Dennis looked expectantly at Cudo, but he didn't budge.

"Cudo, go with everyone else." Dennis told him. "We don't need everyone here for this."

"I'm staying." Cudo said. "I was the first one to learn about it. I want to see what's going to happen next. I need to."

"No, you don't." Lady Avarius said. "Cudo, please go back to the bedroom. Don't make this situation any more painful than it has to be."

Cudo looked from his mother to his older brother, then to his father, and then he reluctantly shuffled away, grumbling as he did so. He won't over to the bedroom door and entered before slamming it behind him, and now it was just them.

Dennis then turned towards Jenkins and the others, who were busy keeping an eye over Brudo, currently still laying on the floor.

"So, uh, what now?" Dennis asked, catching Jenkins attention. "What are you going to do?"

"What am I going to do? Well, first things first, you two can go with the rest of your siblings into that bedroom." Jenkins said. "You played your part, albeit a minor one. What comes next is a bit of a private affair."

"Hold on, that's not fair." Lady Avarius protested. "You can't just have him reveal all those things and then tell us that we're done. You forced us into this, we deserve to see it out till the end."

"Funny, that's oddly similar to what Cudo said." Jenkins countered. "Kind of unfair to him for you to be here, hm? What do you hope to gain by staying?"

"Well, what do _you_ hope to gain?" Dennis said, repeating his question. "What are you going to do next? Kill him? Torture him? Arrest him?"

"Ha!" Jenkins exclaimed, coming out less of a voluntary laugh but more as a reflex. "Arrest him. That's hilarious Dennis. Didn't you hear his story? The whole world ending and stuff? I can't arrest him. I don't have any authority to do that. I don't have any authority at all. But really, I'm going to ask him some questions." Jenkins said realizing he was starting to drone on."Your dad here told Meteora a couple of things, mainly about how you guys have survived and about him locking you in here. Now, I don't know why he told her any of that in the first place, but I don't really care, because it's all full of holes anyways. So I'm going to have him tell me the truth. Unless, of course, he refuses, upon which I might actually kill him."

"Please don't." Dennis pleaded, walking to the bottom of the steps. "I may not like him right now after what he did for fifteen years, but I'd rather there not be any more death in this house. Not again…"

"Again?" Jenkins asked, unsure as to what Dennis was referring to.

"Oh…" Meteora started. "He's referring to Manudo, another one of his siblings. He died here a long time ago. I would have mentioned it earlier, but we arrived before I could get to that part."

"I'm...sorry for you me loss." Jenkins said, doing his best to be sympathetic. After all the death he's been through, he still had trouble acting non-apathetically towards it.

"It's okay." Dennis said. "I just wish that this house wasn't the way it was."

"Yeah, no offense, but there's a lot of ways to die in here." Mariposa said. "Looks like the ceilings about to collapse in at any second."

"Not that." Dennis said. "Did you guys know about the whole infinite bleeding thing?"

Jenkins was about to say no, but Meteora stepped in and responded with a quick "yes."

"Yes?" Jenkins said. "Lemme guess, something else you didn't get the time to tell us about?"

"Yeah." Meteora said. "Brudo told me that there's something in this house that prevents people from healing wounds or something. It makes them bleed to death. Right?" She looked at Dennis. "That's what happens?"

Dennis nodded. "That's pretty much it. We don't know why, but if somebody gets cut, bruised, or whatever, and they stayed bleeding, it doesn't stop. They bleed until they die of it. Manudo cut himself, and no matter how much we tried to stop it, it always found a way to come back. He died, and we learned to always be as careful as possible. That's why all the sharp edges in the house have been filed down. We had to make them dull. We couldn't risk what happened to Manudo happening to someone else."

Jenkins and Mariposa took a quick glance around the room and saw that the edges of everything were indeed filed down, and there wasn't a single point anywhere in the room. It would be impossible for is rot cut themselves by accident.

"Huh." Didn't even notice that." He said. "Got any idea why?"

"No clue." Dennis shrugged. "Probably the same things that kept us from ever having to eat, and made us stop aging."

"...I'm sorry what?" Jenkins asked, now convinced that he was in a dream. "Never having to eat? Made you stop aging? Are you guys immortal or something? Is...is this real? Am I dreaming?"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure this is real." Dennis said. "As for your questions about the immortality...I think you should sit down for this."

"I'm fine. You can-" Jenkins started, before being interrupted by Mariposa.

"We'd love to sit down! Thanks for the offer!" She said, quickly speed-walking over to the portrait room and taking a seat on one of the chairs. Jenkins and Meteora watched her run off in confusion, but quickly did the same, as Meteora took a seat in the other chair while Jenkins stood between the two. Dennis followed them and prepared to give them what they wanted to hear, while Lady Avarius dragged Brudo into the portrait room as well, where he fell to the floor again. She then took a spot on the far side of the room, looking at the family paintings with a newfound contempt.

"So, what part do you want to know about first?" Dennis asked.

"Actually, something I want to know." Mariposa said. "Why are you guys telling us all this? Meteora mentioned that Brudo told all of you that the outside world hates and shuns you. I would figure that you would be pretty distrustful of strangers. So what are you just telling us whatever we want to know?"

"I mean...I just learned that the outside world hating us was a giant lie, so any distrust I had for that died with it. Also, I knew something was up from the beginning. The outside world never really hated us. Brudo practically dragged me back here to keep order among the rest of my siblings. I only stayed here for them, not him."

"Huh. Yeah, that makes sense." Mariposa said.

"And also because I'm terrified of him." Dennis added, pouring towards Jenkins. "Jenkins, wasn't it? Yeah, my dad claimed that you were basically hellspawn back in the day. He really hates you."

"Heh. I hate him too. Depends on how you define hellspawn though." Jenkins said. "But don't worry about me. If anything, Meteora's the one that I would sic on you if you tried anything stupid. She's got magic. She ten times more now than I ever could have been."

"Sic?!" Meteora exclaimed. "What, like some kind of dog?!"

"I, I didn't mean it like that." Jenkins said. "You know what I meant."

"No, I'm not sure I do!" Meteora said. "Ugh, just forget about it. We can squabble about this later. As for right now, Dennis, the first thing I'd like to know is if that food supply actually exist or not. Brudo said that you and your siblings wanted to try out Earth food soon after the dimensions merged so you went and bought a ton of it, and that's how you've survived. It's all bullshit, right?"

"...That's the stupidest explanation I've ever heard." Dennis said. He then looked down at Brudo, the look he gave him being one of great disappointment. "Really? _That's _the excuse you gave her? You couldn't have come up with anything better? You had fifteen years to come up with an explanation, and that's what you went with?"

"Knew it." Meteora said. "Never believed that one for a second. Although really, what is it? How did you survive all this time? I believe you mentioned something about how you don't have to eat…"

"Oh boy, that's a bit of a tale." Dennis said.

"Then lay it on us." Jenkins said. "Trust me, however weird it is, I've heard weirder."

"If you insist." Dennis said, before taking a deep breath. "Okay, so basically, when my father shit everyone into this house, we only had a limited food supply. Apparently he thought it was much greater than what we had, but it didn't really matter, because even if we had food stockpiled in every square inch of the house, it would only last a year. At most. Which reminds me…"

Dennis walked over to Brudo and leaned down towards his face, which was currently staring at the floor."

"Hey." He said. "What was your big plan? Starve us here or something? Did you think any of this through when you got the idea to shut us all in here? Now that I finally have the chance to ask these questions, I think I should take advantage of that."

Brud remained silent, but looked up at Dennis and stared him directly in the eye.

"Well?" He continued. "Are you going to tell me or something? Or do I-"

Without warning, Brudo raised his fist and slammed it into Dennis's face, leaving a giant bruise on his cheek and sending him stumbling backwards. Brudo then leapt up and attempted to hit him again, but Jenkins rushed over to him with lighting speed and slammed his right knee into Brudo's stomach, making him curl up and fall to the floor again.

"Dennis! Are you alright!" Lady Avarius said, rushing over to him. "Y-you're not bleeding, are you?"

"No, I'm fine." Dennis said, rubbing his cheek. He straightened himself and then looked over at his father, although by now he hardly even considered him to be family. "What were you thinking?" He asked. "What world do you live in where you think you would actually get more than one hit on me? Do you just ignore your surroundings until they they stop ignoring you, or are you just plain stupid?"

Brudo didn't say anything and only let out a pained groan, still suffering from the blow Jenkins delivered to him.

"Jenkins...if he tries anything like that again, you can kill him you want." Dennis said, glaring at is father with pure hatred. "Manudo died because of him shutting us in here, so I think it's fair that we get a life for a life."

"Got it." Jenkins said, although inside he was slightly disturbed by Dennis's nonchalant way of telling him to kill Brudo. The truth had been revealed to him just ten minutes ago, but already he acted like he had lived out in the wasteland for his whole life.

"Right. Back to the questions then." Dennis said. "So, the food ran out pretty fast, and then-"

"You…" Brudo's raspy, pained voice called out, trying to

lift himself up off the ground. "You...don't understand…"

"Well well well , are you finally ready to talk?" Jenkins asked him. "Or are you going to-"

"Shut up." Brudo hissed at him. "I'm not talking to you. Why would I ever want to do that? I'm talking to _him_."

He pointed at Dennis, who's fist clenched up at Brudo's mere words.

"Yeah? What do you have to say?" Dennis asked. "Are you gonna apologize for punching me in the face? Spoilers: I won't forgive you."

"Don't make me laugh." Brudo moaned. "I did that...because of your reprimanding of what I did to all of you. You're angry because I shut us in here. You have no idea why I really did that. You can't possibly understand."

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this." Dennis said. "What, did the voices in your head tell you too? Did they tell you that you had to board up the house? You really think I'm going to take pity on you for-"

"You should be thanking me!" Brudo yelled, getting to his feet, before the pain coming from his stomach forced him to fall to the ground again. "If not for me, then you would have never survived the apocalypse. If not for me, we would have all burned out there. If not for me, every single one of us would be dead! You can't dispute that fact."

"I...well...ugh." Dennis groaned. His father had a point. Based on what he'd seen, Brudo shutting them all in here really _had _saved them from the apocalypse. But did that make it right? Would he rather die by the truth, or live by a lie?

He already knew the answer, and Brudo knew it too. He would rather live.

"You see?" Brudo said. "I was right to do this. Without me, you'd be dead. It doesn't matter what else you say to me. That is the cold, hard truth Dennis. And if you hadn't believed it, then you would have perished with the rest, just like your worthless brother."

"...Ludo?" Dennis said, the faintest flicker of anger sparking his voice. "Are you talking about Ludo?"

"Who else?" Brudo said. "Based on the tone in your voice just now, it seems you still idolize him. The person who brought shame to this family. I must say I have never been more disappointed. Fifteen years of telling you what he _really _was didn't seem to stick.

"He did _not _bring shame to this family." Dennis hissed. "The only shame he ever brought on anybody was on himself. But I helped him. I helped him get better. I saw it! He was a better person! But you! You trapped me in here with the others, just when it seems like he would never go back to his old ways! And now he's probably dead, and I'll never get to say goodbye to him like I should have!"

"He's not dead." Meteora chimed in, unable to watch another second of this.

Brudo, Dennis, and Lady Avarius all turned to face Meteora simultaneously, all of them putting on a different expression.

"What did you say?" Dennis asked her. "He's still alive?"

"Yeah." Meteora said. "Long story short, I used a spell to talk to my mother, and she told me that he's still alive. Well, um, he was still alive when he left to go live by himself. He thought you guys had all died."

Dennis didn't say anything, but merely froze in place. Brudo scowled greatest upon learning that his most hated son was still thriving out there, and Lady Avarius simply stared at Ludo in the family portrait, who was desperately attempting to fit in the frame.

"So what you're saying is that there's still a chance?" Dennis finally said. "That he's still out there?"

"I guess so." Meteora said, shrugging. "She didn't really give me much information on him, but I know for a fact that he survived the initial apocalypse. He just left to go be by himself."

"Hm. You hear that?" Dennis asked, turning towards Brudo. "Look who's not dead. Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing that you were _really _hoping that he had died out there."

"It makes little difference." Brudo said. "As long as he stays far, far away from here."

"We'll see about that. If he ever comes back here one day, then I'll be sure to welcome him with open arms." Dennis said. "And as for you...well, I don't think you'll have much of a say in anything at that point."

"Don't be stupid." Brudo said. "You still need me. This family still needs me. Have you listened to a single thing I've told you?"

"You're insane." Dennis said, before finally giving up on him. "Jenkins, pick him up off the floor and throw him outside or something. Just get him out of here."

"As tempting as that is, I can't do that just yet." Jenkins said. "I still have a few questions for you myself Brudo. Whether you answer them willingly is up to you, but either way, you're going to tell me. I don't care what I have to do to make you talk."

"Are you seriously going to _torture _me?" Brudo asked him, his face now one of horror. "What is wrong with you?! What happened to being the protector of Earth, of all humans and Mewmans and monsters?!"

"Well, I never asked for a separate dimension to be dumped onto mine." Jenkins said. "That little event made me lose a lot of my patience for anything. Then the apocalypse took the rest of it away. I'm starting to recover from that, I try to be a nice guy ever once in a while, but if you knew me at all Brudo, then you'd know I would do anything to accomplish what I think is best."

"Uh, dude, you're starting to sound kind of evil." Meteora. "We don't have to torture him or anything like that."

"Pft. That was definitely not me being evil." Jenkins said. "That one I stopped being a long time ago."

"Ehhh…" Meteora and Mariposa said at the same time, earning them both a glare from Jenkins, and they both looked away from him in different directions.

"But anyways," He continued. "I'm not going to torture you Brudo. Considering the state you're in right now, I'm sure you'll crack by yourself sooner or later. That or I can just have your wife tell you to."

"Oh, leave me out of this." Lady Avarius said. "I don't even know why I stayed down here. And it wouldn't work anyways. Brudo doesn't respect me in the slightest. Don't involve me in something I want no part of Jenkins." She spat the last word, almost with contempt.

"Okay, jeez, sorry." Jenkins said, putting his right hand up defensively. "Fine. If that's not an option, then I'll figure something out. But you will talk by the end of this Brudo. I swear on my life."

"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." Brudo said. "If you really think it's going to be easy, then you've got another thing coming."

"Oh I know." Jenkins said. "That's why I'm going to ask Dennis first. You can just fill in the blanks. Almost no work at all on your part. Dennis. Could you tell me everything about what's going on here?"

"Gladly." Dennis said. "But mostly because I hate my father right now. So, it all started when he walked up to me one day and asked me to come back here, and then-"

"_Hey."_

Meteora flinched visibly at the Voice suddenly coming back into her head, and she suddenly found it a lot harder to concentrate on Dennis's story. His voice was quickly drowned out by the Voice's voice appearing out of nowhere.

"_Wow. Looks like I missed a lot." _It said, although it's tone indicated it had been watching the whole time.

"No kidding." Meteora muttered, Dennis's story now incomprehensible to her. "What the hell have you been doing? It's been hours."

"_It has not been hours. But what happened?"_

"Eh, give me a minute." Meteora said, before directing her voice towards the rest of the room. "Hey, um, I'm just step outside for a second. I need to...do something."

"Oh." Dennis said. "Well, there's a bathroom down the hall if you need it. No need to go outside and-"

"No." Meteora said quickly. "Not that. I just need to...be back in a while!" She then walked out of the room as fast as she could, earning a look of bewilderment from everybody. She stepped over the broken door and then disappeared from view, heading in a random direction away from the house.

"Well…" Jenkins started, too invested in Dennis's story to care. "What was that you were saying about the spell?"

"That's complicated." Dennis said. "You see, I think one day my dad was contacted by some weird being…"

As the story continued inside, outside Meteora had walked away from the clearing the house was in and had gone back up no the woods, a deafening silence now surrounding her. She leaned up against a tree and let herself sink to the ground, several broken branches scratching her arms and legs.

"_Why did you leave like that?"_ The Voice asked. "_Or leave at all really…"_

"I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know." Meteora said. "Maybe I just wanted to get out of that house. It has a weird atmosphere. Like I could feel something in there. But even if there want anything in that place, I definitely needed some fresh air. I can only take so many reveals."

"_Speaking of which, mind telling me what happened?" _The Voice asked. "_I'm kind of in the dark here."_

"Why?" Meteora asked. "Shouldn't you have seen all that?"

"_I wasn't looking. And I was doing something rather important." _The Voice said. "_Remember, I was working on seeing if I could find another way for you to get that monster-butterfly form. And I regret to inform you that I didn't."_

"Well, thanks for trying anyways." Meteora said, greatly disappointed. "But nevermind that for now. Okay, so basically, what happened is that Brudo and his family have been living in that house from before even the apocalypse began, and then they somehow survived it. Dennis was about to tell us how, but as you saw, I left before he got to that part."

"_Could...you maybe go back inside and listen? I would like to know?"_

"Actually, I want to know something first." Meteora said. "Why didn't you know? Shouldn't you have seen these guys with your omniscience or whatever?"

"_No. I didn't see them. And that's the confusing part. I should have, but I didn't. Something was hiding them from me. To me, it just looked like the house was empty, so I didn't investigate further. But now, it clearly wasn't. Something is blocking my vision."_

"That's terrifying." Meteora said as casually as she could muster. "Only other time something like that ever happened to you was during the nukes launch. You said you couldn't see anything."

"_Yes. And now it's back. And for some reason, preventing me from seeing the Avarius's. As if they were important in any way."_

"They're not important?"

"_No."_

"Well, the universe begs to differ." Meteora said. "But alright. I'll go back inside. Hope Dennis doesn't mind starting from the beginning…"

"_Wait." _The Voice said. "_Now that you're already out here, there's something I want you to do. A new spell."_

"Oh goody." She said, sounding rather uninterested. "What do we got this time? Defense spell? Attack spell? Healing spell? Are we going to work on that monster-butterfly form?"

"_No, no, no, and...no. None of those." _The Voice said.

"Then what is it?" Meteora asked. "Because I don't really see why else it-"

"_Meteora…" _The Voice said, it's tone full of anticipation. "_Have you ever heard of a little thing called...time-travel?"_

"..."

"_Meteora? Are you-"_

"...No. Way."

**End chapter 30**

**A/N: Well, this should be fun. Next chapter will have a twist in it that I've been saving for a while, How the Avarius's survived will be revealed, as well as a callback or two. **

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	31. Chapter 31: One final spell

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 31**

**One final spell**

"...No. Way."

"_Yes way." _The Voice said, coming up with the lamest response it could think of.

"T-time travel." Meteora said, her voice shaking. "Real, actual time travel, just like in those movie things that Jenkins once told us about?"

"_It is far from being a "movie thing" Meteora." _The Voice claimed. "_Time travel is known throughout the entire multiverse. It is, as most things are, capable through magic. Although, just like in the movies, it is extremely difficult, dangerous, and uses insane amounts of energy to even attempt."_

"And you didn't tell me about any of this before because…?"

"_I was simply waiting for the proper moment. I felt like you had a lot on your plate already, so I didn't tell you earlier."_

"Well...this wasn't the right moment." Meteora said. "You already told me about the monster-butterfly form earlier today, and then while I was still contemplating that, I came across the entire damn Avarius family living in the woods like a bunch of hermits, and now you come back and tell me that I have the ability to time travel. I don't just have a lot on my plate. You're giving me the entire damn buffet."

"_I'm surprised you know what a buffet is…"_

"Don't ask how. And of course that's the first thing that comes to your mind." Meteora said, clearly annoyed. "But you are telling the truth right? This isn't some cruel joke? I can actually time travel with my magic?"

"_If everything goes to plan, then yes. You should be able to." _The Voice said. "_However…"_

"Oh boy, here it comes." Meteora complained.

"_Just like with everything else that's useful, it will take up a lot of energy. Even more energy than the communication spell. And it will use it up much, much faster."_

"Yeah, I saw that one coming." Meteora said. "I mean, I'm basically forcing time and space to bend to my will here, so I kind of expected it to have consequences."

"_Quite. But now, would you like to try it out?"_

"W-would I like to what?"

"_Try. It. Out. T-r-y." _The Voice spelled out for her. "_Do you want to attempt to use the traveling spell?"_

"I...I mean…just give me a second." Meteora, before returning to the sanctuary that was her own thoughts. This was all going too fast. She hadn't been lying earlier about the buffet thing. It was really starting to overwhelm her. There was so much to do, so much to remember, and she was starting to break under the pressure. If she could just concentrate for a moment, then by some miracle she would be able to prevent herself from going insane.

'Okay.' She thought, taking several deep breaths to calm herself down. 'Okay. You can do this. Just calm down Meteora. Calm down. Just focus on what's going on right now, focus on-wait. If I can travel through time...then doesn't that make everything irrelevant? Can't I just change the past to my needs? Holy-I can prevent all of this! The entire damn apocalypse! The Voice said I was supposed to save the world! Maybe-maybe this is how! And then I can unite everybody in the past! All three species, brought together. And then I'm going to find Seth, tear his head off, and stick it on my bedroom wall. But not before finding Janna and figuring out what the hell turned her into a psychopath.' She grinned widely, not realizing that she was getting far ahead of herself.

"Voice." She said. "New plan. I know what I'm going to do."

"_And that is…?"_

"I'm going to travel to the past." Meteora said, preparing to deliver her plan step-by-step. "Before the apocalypse ever happened. I'm going to find Seth, and I'm going to use my magic to kill him. I'm going to stop Janna from turning evil. I'm going the entire apocalypse from ever happening, and then-"

"_Whoa whoa whoa!" _The Voice hollered. "_Calm down Meteora. Don't get so far ahead of yourself."_

"But it's a good plan, and you haven't even heard the whole thing!" Meteora protested. "I can save everyone, just like you said I would!"

"_Meteora...if you could save the world like that...don't you think I would have told you about this from the beginning? Don't you think I would have made this your number one goal?"_

"..."

"_The answer you're looking for is "yes." If you could do that, then we would have had this conversation a lot earlier. We would already be in the past, preventing all of it from happening."_

"Then why aren't we?"

"_Because of your lack of energy." _The Voice said.

"What!" Meteora exclaimed. "Lack of energy?! Sure, I can be lazy from time to time, but not now! Not with something like this! I can-"

"_That's not what I meant!" _The Voice yelled. "_What I meant is that you don't have enough magical energy in you to sustain the spell for that long. Like I said, it takes up much more magic than the communication spell. And the spell doesn't stop sapping your stamina away when you arrive at your destination. It keeps going. You would never be able to hold it long enough for you to save the world."_

Meteora thought about this for a second, and then growled in frustration. "So happy…" She mumbled. "I was so damn happy. I really thought I could save the world like that. But of course it wouldn't be that easy. _Nothing _is ever easy in this...this...this shithole of a world!"

"_I'm sorry." _The Voice said, genuinely apologizing. "_I understand. I was disappointed when I figured it out as well."_

"Oh, I'm more than disappointed." Meteora said. "Or maybe it is just disappointment. I don't know. I don't even know what to say anymore." Meteora then flopped over, the ground viciously scratching her back and making several small cuts. But she didn't feel it. She didn't feel any of it.

"You know what I want right now? You know what I really want to happen?" She asked, a single tear forming at the edge of her vision. "I want me, Mariposa, and Jenkins to all go back home to our friends, and I want all of us to be happy. Mari can go back to her parents, and Jenkins can go back to his job, and maybe we'll visit him every once in a while."

"_..."_

"But there's more." Meteora continued, not hearing any response from the Voice. "I...I want to end this. All my problems, I want them to stop. To just get and leave. Drosid, Janna, Seth, all of them can go straight to hell for all I care. As long as they don't bother us anymore. As long as we don't have to worry about them anymore. As long as they don't try to hurt me, or anybody else ever again!"

"_Meteora…"_

"Not done yet." Meteora said, now crying uncontrollably. "And finally, more than anything, I want my parents. I want to be with them. I want to be happy with them. That talk with my mother wasn't enough. I'm still as starved of their affection as ever."

"_But are you really?" _The Voice asked, finally getting a word in.

"What do you mean?" Meteora asked. "Of course I am! I've only ever seen and talked it my mother once! For all fifteen years of my…...of _this_ life! God, all the past lives I had make it annoying sometimes. But yeah. I really am. I still don't know them nearly as much as I do."

"_That's not what's important."_

"It's not?"

"_No. What's important is that they still love you. Which they certainly do. They haven't forgotten about you. Not in a decade and a half, and they would probably still remember you even if a century went by. You say you're starved of their affection. But they heap it on with every ounce of their being. You don't just don't feel it directly. But will always love you. Even if you die. Even if they die. You have to understand that. They're always thinking of you, and you should be too, but not as a person you can't touch, but a person that's always with you, just in your heart."_

"..."

"_Meteora? Are you-"_

"That...that was beautiful." Meteora said, a small tear running down her cheek, but this one more out of happiness than out of anger or sadness. "I had no idea you would know so much about that kind of stuff. About what it means to care for a person."

"_I know something about everything."_

"No kidding…" Meteora sniffled, still quietly crying. "You're right. As per usual. Just cause they're not here, that doesn't mean I should I give up any sort of hope. I...I should always be looking to the future for the positive things."

"_And you finally get it." _The Voice said. "_You finally learned to worrying about everything all the time. I really thought your anxiety would get the better did you one of these days, and you would go insane and destroy the planet with a haphazard spell."_

"I think I have an excuse for all the anxiety." Meteora said, wiping the rest of her tears away. "But if I do ever go insane like that, then Mari and Jenkins will know what to do. What they'll have to do."

"_You're kidding, right?" _The Voice asked. "_What they'll have to do? They would never kill you Meteora. Hurt you, maybe, if it came to that, but they would never kill you like that."_

"Even if I was about to kill them?"

"_...Where are these thoughts coming from? What happened to that nice conversation about your parents we just had?_

"Who knows." Meteora sighed. "Maybe those thoughts just popped into my head. Maybe because you _mentioned _it, or maybe because I'm feeling so tired that I want to go to sleep, and the extreme deprivation is having an effect on my well-being."

"_It's not that. Trust me, I would know_."

"Yeah. You know "something about everything,'' don't you? But I don't think it matters. Either way, I've said it and I can't take it back. Unless I use that time traveling spell."

"_Speaking of which, can we go back to discussing that? We're wasting time."_

"Ironic." Meteora said. "But if you insist. So, how does it work, and what do I do?"

"_Finally back on track…" _The Voice mumbled, its previous mood of trying to make Meteora happy long since vanished. "_It's a very complicated spell, as one would expect. You need perfect concentration, we have to go to the mind realm to make it safer for the both of us, and there is a long and confusing chant that you need to say to make it work."_

"Is that all?" Meteora asked, unimpressed. "That's not complicated. That's Tuesday."

"_Did I also mention the fact that it takes even more than the communication spell, and can easily kill you?"_

"You did, actually." Meteora said. "Several times. And I get it. So let me just charge something up, and we'll be at the mind realm. I want to try this as soon as possible."

"_Charge up? Wait, do you mean that sleep spell? You know how I don't-"_

"Too late!" Meteora yelled, and aimed her hand at her head. "Sleep spell!" She yelled, and a bright yellow

light shot out of her hand, hit her square in the forehead, and she slumped to the ground,

unconscious.

**The mind realm…5 seconds later...**

"I still don't get why you're so distrusting of that spell. You know how adept I am with magic now."

"_Permanent coma. Brain damage. Accidentally paralyzation. Shall I continue?"_

"...No."

A few moments earlier, Meteora had woken up in the mind realm. The same, boring, drab, darkness filled area that was the empty hole in the middle of her mind. Effectively nothing, until the Voice took control and filled it up with memories.

"But whatever. We're here." Meteora said. "Now what? I can do the concentration part, but what's this chant that you said I have to repeat? Praying it's in English…"

"_Can you slow down for a second? Remember that time here is-"_

"Infinite, yes, I know." Meteora said. "And why do you care? Isn't this about as doing this as soon as possible? Growing my powers as soon as possible?"

"_Yes, but it's not about acting recklessly either. You're too excited at the moment. Too worked up. This spell is creeping into every corner of your brain, invading your thought process and grabbing every piece of your focus. You just learned about its existence less than a half hour ago, and yet you are already obsessed."_

"Can you blame me though?" Meteora asked. "I don't think you realize the potential of what we could do with this. I know I won't be able to prevent the apocalypse because I don't have enough stamina or energy or whatever, but we can still do so much. Little things, sure, but together, they can change the course of history! And-hey! Why don't we just do that? Prevent the apocalypse by things bit by bit? It might take forever, but it would work!"

"_No it wouldn't. That's not how that works."_

"How so?"

"_Allow me to explain. Again." _The Voice said. "_There's nothing you can do with that."_

"Why not?" Meteora asked, her disappointment growing by the second.

"_When you travel to the past, you're not traveling to this Earth's past. You're instead create an alternate timeline in which you went there. Change something back then, it won't show up in your future. It'll change that timelines future, but not your own."_

"That sounds like it was stolen from something else." Meteora rebuffed. "Also, who came up with that rule? Someone who hates change?"

"_No. It was probably that level five being I mentioned a while back..."_

"Damn Lythol…"

"_No, the other one."_

"Damn "other one"." She scoffed, accepting the sad truth and practically giving up on the spot. "Let's just get on with it. Tell me the chant, and then what to do next."

"_Very well. Sit down."_

Meteora didn't disobey this for a moment, her earlier excitement slowly returning as she sat down on the ground, crossing her legs.

"_Good, now, repeat after me. I wish to tear a hole in time…"_

"I wish to tear a hole in time…" Meteora repeated, getting the feeling that this was going to rhyme.

"_I promise to do no damage and commit no crime…"_

"I promise to do no damage and commit no crime…"

"_And now I wish to leave this world…"_

"And now I wish to leave this world…"

"_Only to return when time has curled."_

"Only to return when time has curled."

The Voice didn't say anything after that, and Meteora braces herself. For a burst of energy, sudden exhaustion, a bright light, anything.

Nothing happened.

"Uh…" She said, greatly confused. "I don't feel that different. Was something supposed to have happened?"

"_Yes, actually." _The Voice said, sounding concerned. "_You were supposed to be enveloped in a ball of golden light, and then you would have thought of your destination in time, and off you go to whenever."_

"Well, it didn't work." Meteora said, stating the obvious. "What did I do wrong? Did you tell me the wrong chant, or do I just not have enough energy? I might still be suffering that drain I got from the communication spell…"

"_That may be the case. But I sense that you have enough energy to do at least one short jump through time. It may only last a few seconds, but you should still be able to do it. As for the chant, no, that is completely correct."_

"Only a few seconds? Well that's just great." Meteora whined. "But what else could it have been?"

"_You just may not be concentrating hard enough."_

"I don't think so. This has my full attention."

"_Does it though?" _The Voice asked, unconvinced.

"..."

"_Well?"_

"...Probably not." Meteora admitted. "Maybe there was one really small part of me that was thinking about other stuff. Like how crazy all this Avarius stuff is and about what you said earlier about my parents."

"_That must have been it then." _The Voice concluded. "_We're going to try again. But this time, you can't be thinking about anything else. Not the Avarius's, but your parents, not Mariposa, Jenkins, Drosid, Janna, none of them. Push them all out of your mind. Make them as irrelevant as possible and-"_

"Okay okay, I get it." Meteora interrupted, before closing her eyes. "Say it again, I already forgot what it was."

The Voice made a sighing sound and repeated the chant to Meteora, who spoke it in turn. Once finished, Meteora didn't feel anything at first, but then she felt something on the end of her fingertips, which soon traveled across her whole body. It felt like static electricity was shocking every part of her at the same time. It reminded her of the first time she went into her butterfly form, back on the cliff.

"I...think it's working." She said. "I can definitely feel something this time."

"_Open your eyes."_

Meteora obeyed and nearly let out a gasp at what she saw. Surrounding her was a giant golden bubble of magic, looking like ocean waves mixed with sand flowing all around her. It was constantly moving, every part of it somehow traveling in a different. It almost hurt to look at, and she let out a single word, awe filling every syllable of it.

"Neat."

"_Yes, it is "neat." But just the beginning. Remember what I told you you would have to do next?"_

"Visualize where I want to go." Meteora said. "Only for a few seconds? Okay, I should make it somewhere that's not filled with too many people, but at the same time, something that'll confirm I went to the past, and-wait." Meteora paused, her attention now focused on something else. "Can I travel to the future as well? You never said this was past-exclusive."

"_You'd instantly die. Going to the future takes up much more energy than traveling to the past. Time stream bullshit and all that."_

Meteora rolled her eyes. "Sounds like something I'd said. But past it is then. Although it's not like I would have know where I was going in the future. Now, how about...the Forest of Certain Death? If it's still a "forest" then that should confirm it. Besides, I doubt anybody will be there. The Avarius's are all locked up in their house at that time, and nobody's really going to want to enter it.

"_Not a bad idea, but you're overlooking something. It's literally in the name Meteora. The second you take materialize in the forest, a giant plant could bite your head off. And you'll be so weak after performing the spell that you won't be able to stop it."_

"...The middle of the desert?" She tried.

"_You wouldn't be able to tell if you actually managed to travel back in time. You may have just teleported yourself to the other side of the planet."_

'Wait, I can teleport?' Meteora thought. 'Why haven't they-oh forget it, questions for later.'

'My room? Baby me's room?'

"_These are some very odd choices you're coming up with. And no. Imagine if your mother or father was in there. Imagine their shock if a teenage version of their daughter just suddenly came into existence for a few seconds and then vanished."_

"That's a good point." Meteora said. "Agh! You know what? I don't care! You choose! I just want to go somewhere, anywhere!" She pounded her fist on the ground in anger, making the mind realm shake in response.

"_Meteora, calm down. Don't do something you might_-"

"I don't care!" She yelled. She suddenly felt like she had been filled with a newfound rage, a rage that wasn't her own. Out of control for no good reason, her voice raised itself to a screech. "Choose somewhere NOW!"

Before either of them could do or say anything, the ball of light around Meteora glowed every brighter at her command. It then collapsed in on itself, and Meteora let out a cry of shock as she and the ball vanished. She felt her body fade away to nothingness, the only thing now showing that she had ever been there being a few small golden sparks which hung in the air, and then they too disappeared a moment later.

**Inside Brudo's house…a short while earlier…**

Everyone watched at Meteora practically sprinted out of the room and through the hole that once held a door, all of them equally confused. But at the same time, Jenkins and Mariposa weren't that concerned, and didn't bother to follow her.

"Well…" Jenkins started, too invested in Dennis's story to care. "What was that you were saying about the spell?"

"That's complicated." Dennis said. "You see, I think one day my dad was contacted by some weird being that spoke to him in a dream."

"In a dream?" Jenkins asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Dennis said. "He didn't tell me much about it. In fact, he didn't tell me anything at all. I only know about this because sometimes when I spied in him, I overheard him grumbling about it."

"And what exactly was he grumbling about?" Meteora asked. "Other than that being."

"Nonsense." Dennis said. "Something about how he didn't regret making some deal, about how he was protecting all of us, about how he was doing the things he needed to, crap like that."

"Deal?" Jenkins asked, before grabbing Brudo by the hair and yanking him up. "What sort of deal did you make Brudo?"

Although Mariposa didn't care if Brudo got hurt or not, she knew that him accidentally killing Brudo out of anger would just set them back further. Moreover, she didn't want Jenkins to suddenly explode in rage and accident hurt himself or the numerous other people in the room."

"Jenkins...calm down." She said, pulling his arm off of Brudo. "Please don't something you might regret. If you kill him, we'll never know what else he has to say."

But instead of listening to her and letting go of Brudo, Jenkins did quite the opposite, grabbing Mariposa's arm and pulling it off his own. His grip on her arm was so tight that it actually hurt, and Mariposa winced from the pain. She could feel the tension in his fingers, as if he was about to burst from anger.

"Maybe." He whispered, before letting go of her. She could tell he was cureebly blind with rage. For whatever reason, Brudo's deal has sent him off the deep end. "But I can't relax. Not if Brudo did what I think he did. Don't interfere, for everyone's sake."

Mariposa gulped nervously and took a step away from him. Jenkins, seeing her slightly terrified expression, came to his senses and mouthed "sorry" to her before turning back to Brudo.

"Talk!" He yelled, pulling Brudo so close that they were an inch apart. "What deal did you make? And who did you make it with?"

"I...I…" Brudo stammered, currently fearing for his life.

"Speak before I beat the answer out of you." Jenkins hissed at him. Mariposa took another step away from him, as did Dennis and Lady Avarius. Jenkins looked ready to tear Brudo limb from limb, and one of them wanted to get caught in the middle of it.

'What the hell is happening?' Mariposa thought. 'Why did he get so mad all of a sudden? The second Brudo mentioned that deal, he just turned psycho. And the way he grabbed me...I'm pretty sure there's still a mark on my arm. That hurt. And I know he would never do that. He would never…'

Mariposa paused, not sure how she should think of him right now. One one hand, she knew he would never hurt her on purpose. Him grabbing her was just the result of him being so angry he couldn't control it. But on the other, she saw the look in his eyes. Nothing lived in those eyes at the moment. No compassion, no concern, no nothing. Just hate, and every single bit of it was directed towards Brudo.

'Just stay out of his way for now.' She thought. 'Don't interfere, just like he said. But...even if it was by accident, he better apologize later. He shouldn't have just-'

"TALK!" Jenkins roared, making Mariposa's thoughts skid to a one way stop. Dennis and Lady Avarius froze in place out of fear, while also looking ready to get as far away from Jenkins as possible.

"Okay! Okay! Don't kill me!" Brudo said desperately, finally having been broken. "I'll tell you everything!"

"You best." Jenkins said. "Because otherwise, you're going to have to live the rest of your life without that beak." Brudo's eyes went wide as the mental image of Jenkins ripping his beak out of his face came to mind. Any bit of stubbornness he previously had was all but gone, and everyone knew it.

"W-where do you want me to start?" He asked.

"Like. I. Said. Who did you make a deal with?!" Jenkins repeated.

"Just some person that I met in a dream!" Brudo said. "The first night after the merge had happened, I dreamt that they were there and talking to me. I didn't know what they looked like, I didn't or their name, the only thing I remember about _them _specifically is that their voice sounded familiar!"

"Familiar how?"

"Um...just familiar?" Brudo said, unsure of how to interpret the question. "Like I had heard their voice before. There's nothing else too it."

"I know _that." _Jenkins said. "But who did they remind you of?"

"I can't remember." Brudo said, before bracing himself for the punch to the face that was sure to follow. But instead, Jenkins seemed to believe this for some reason.

"Fine." He growled. "What did they tell you?"

"They-they told me that something was coming very soon, and that if I didn't do what they said, then everyone in my family, including myself, would all die."

"Isn't that convenient. Somebody told you about the apocalypse beforehand." Jenkins said. "Why didn't you tell anyone else?"

"Whoever it was told me not to. They told me that if I did, then they would kill me." Brudo claimed. "I believed them only because of the spell they put over the house."

"What does this spell do?" Jenkins asked. "Does it make you immortal or something? Because Dennis mentioned how you didn't need to eat."

"...That's actually it." Brudo said. "I don't know how, but we haven't needed to eat, drink, hell, maybe even _breathe _ever since I made that deal. We only sleep because we want too. Because we want to be reminded of who we used to be."

"I take it you don't age either." Jenkins assumed. "Every single person here looks exactly the damn same as they did fifteen years ago."

"Yeah…" Brudo said. "We don't age. It was interesting at first, then it got annoying. To know you would never grow another inch, that your hair would always remain the same, and that you would outlive everyone and everything. It...it hasn't been fun."

"Are _you _seriously complaining about being immortal?" Jenkins asked, surprised at Brudo's opinion on immortality. "I'd think a person like you would love being immortal. You get to outlive all the people you hate. Which is, to say, everyone."

"Actually, I can see where he's coming from." Dennis chimed in. He was obviously still reeling the effects of Jenkins outburst, but he somehow managed to dig up enough willpower to form coherent sentences.

"I know immortality may seem like something great, but after a while, it changes you." He continued. "Every day you look in the mirror looking exactly how you did the day before. You expect there to be at least some small change, but there isn't. After a while, you start to feel like a living statue, unchanging and frozen in time. I haven't enjoyed it. My mother hasn't enjoyed it. And my siblings haven't enjoyed it."

Jenkins took a moment to think about this and realized that Dennis was making a lot of sense. Even if _he _hadn't seen himself in what felt like years, he definitely felt himself change. Growing older by the day. Being immortal would get annoying after awhile. And to be put through that for all eternity? The only word he could have used to describe it was hellish. Both of them were practically speaking words of wisdom.

"That, and the knowledge that all our friends on the outside will die, and we won't unless we leave and someone kill us, or if...we kill ourselves." Dennis said, making one final point.

Jenkins nodded and turned back to Brudo. "Looks like you two finally agree on something." He said. "But, is that it then? You talked to some person in a dream, they made you immortal as long as you shut everyone in the house, and you did just that? Upon which, I'm guessing, whoever this was protected you from the blast and the radiation."

"..."

"Yeah, that's exactly it." Jenkins said, taking note of Brudo's stunned silence. "Well then…" He then let go of Brudo and let him fall to the floor, although he knew that they still weren't done.

"Any idea why?" Jenkins asked him. "Why would anyone want to help you guys survive?" He turned towards Dennis. "No offense."

"Uh, non taken." Dennis said.

Brudo groaned and got to his feet. "I don't know. I've told you all that you wanted to know, and everything else you figured out by yourself. This person was familiar, nothing more. They never told me why they were doing this. They told me the offer and the consequences if I said no, so I took it while I still could."

Mariposa, who had remained silent for the past few minutes, took a few steps forward, looked at Jenkins, and spoke up.

"Now what?" She asked. "Now that that's over with, is there any reason for us to stay here?"

Jenkins looked down at her in surprise, showing that the question she asked was definitely not one he was expecting. But he still did his best to give her an answer.

"I don't know." He said. "Dennis, anything else you can tell us?"

"I got nothing." Dennis said, shrugging. "You know the whole story now. Any information I could tell you would be useless or probably wrong."

"That doesn't matter." Jenkins said, pressing on. "Because as of right now, useless and wrong is all we've got left. I'd like to solve this little mystery. I want to know why your family was saved from Seth. If there's something about you guys that was special, then it might be bigger than you, or even I, can possibly imagine."

"Seth…" Dennis repeated, ignoring the last part of Jenkins dramatic claim. "Actually, I want to know something first. Why did Seth destroy the world? And how did he even manage to do that?"

"Why? I don't know why." Jenkins said. "What would I know about the inner workings of a madman? He probably just hated Mewmans, humans, and monsters. Mewmans because he always hated them, humans because it was revealed that Mewmans has evoked from them, and monsters because he saw them as traitors now after they became friends with the other two."

"But how…?"

"He stormed the E.D.F.'s base." Jenkins said. "With a clone army of himself. He took control, activated the nukes, and the rest is history. Now I don't know where he is or what he's planning next, but I do know that he has to still be alive. Out there. Somewhere. Doing more evil shit."

"What's your plan if you encounter him again?" Dennis asked.

Jenkins paused momentarily before answering. "...I would tear him apart." He said confidently. "As slowly as I can. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Layer by layer. Until there's nothing left for him to regenerate. Then I'm going to burn those pieces, and throw the ashes into the deepest pit in the Underworld. And if possible, I will get in all on camera so I can watch it every day for the rest of my life."

"..."

"..."

"That's disturbing." Mariposa said. "But I can't really blame you. After what he did, I'd probably do the same thing. Except for the whole camera part of course. That's messed up."

"Agreed." Dennis said. "But like your kid said, what are you going to do right now? We have no more information to tell you, and I'm sure Brudo told you everything. There's not much left for you here."

"Her name is Mariposa. Try not to forget it." Jenkins said. "And...I guess we'll figure that when Meteora gets back. But in the meantime, do you have any food?"

"..."

"Right. Sorry." Jenkins said, letting himself flop into a nearby chair.

And everyone left it at that, waiting for Meteora to return from the forest

**Somewhere cold that isn't the forest...**

Freezing.

Every part of her was freezing.

Groaning, hurting, and feeling like she had been run over by a truck while golden spots danced in her vision, Meteora came to her senses and said the only thing that was on her mind.

"Ugh...ughhhh...what the hell happened?"

"_Get up._" The Voice said out of nowhere, now sounding like it was in full panic mode. "_Get up quickly. Right. Now. Get up dammit!"_

Meteora, still suffering from the effects of the spell, groggily pushed herself up at the Voice's command and looked around. Her knees and elbows were being pushed into something soft and cold, and she opened her eyes a millimeter at a time. After doing so, they went wider than ever before. All around her was an impossibly white landscape, covered in some odd material that looked completely alien to her. She jumped up and stumbled backwards in some attempt to get away from it, but it was futile. It was an endless cold blanket of white stretching over the horizon, and all she could do now was suffer through it. A huge amount of the white stuff was even falling from the sky like ash. It was surreal.

"W-what is this?" She said fearfully. "What am I standing in?"

"_Wha-you mean the snow?" _The Voice asked, dumbfounded. "_You seriously don't know what-oh. Wait. Yeah, you've never seen snow before, have you? Sorry about that."_

"This...this is snow?" Meteora asked, reaching down and taking a handful of it. She shifted it in her fingers and brought it closer to her face, inspecting it like an archeologist with an ancient relic.

"_It is. Unfortunately, something has gone wrong. We are not where we should be."_

"I...I've never seen it before. We were never in the right place. Hey! It's made out of these weird flakes. They're all different patterns..."

"_What could have happened? Wait, you didn't have a destination in mind, did you? You took us to a random spot in time! Agh! What a waste."_

"It molds and you can shape it…"

"_Well, this is most unfortunate. But even more odd is your condition. We should have already left. Your heart should have given out from loss of energy by now. But for some reason, it hasn't."_

"This is weird. I think Jenkins said that snow was frozen water, but he left it at that. Is snow and ice the same thing? I thought-"

"_Can you please pay attention?!" _The Voice shrieked. "_There's more important things going on than the stupid snow!"_

"Hey, let me have my moment! I've never seen it before!" Meteora yelled. She gripped the snow in her hand again. "I've never seen this before. Whatever happened, this may be the only chance I get."

The Voice paused for a moment. "_...You're right. This is new to you. It is natural for you to be excited. But we can't focus on that right now. We should be focusing on what happened with the spell. Something is definitely wrong here."_

Meteora paused and then looked down at the snow in her hand. Sighing, she let it drop to the ground and then brushed the rest of it off her arms and legs. She then stood there, shivering and still feeling like crap. After a few seconds of this, she decided that the snow wasn't so fun anymore. After the initial excitement had worn off, all it was now was annoying and cold.

"_Not so fun anymore, eh?" _The Voice asked, seeming to read her mind.

"No kidding." Meteora said. "I've never felt this cold before. Where even are we?"

"_That's what I'd like to find out. Like I was saying, something went wrong with the spell. I believe it had to do with your outburst just before we traveled to the past."_

"Oh...that." Meteora said, recalling how angry she had felt. She didn't even know why. It had just felt right in the moment. "But how? Don't I need to have perfect concentration? I'm pretty sure that being pissed and screaming doesn't count as perfect concentration."

"_I don't know why it happened. I don't have any idea what's going on. Something went wrong. Very, very, very wrong. I don't know where or when we are. I don't know why you aren't dead yet from magical exhaustion. I don't know why the hell any of this is-"_

"Calm down!" Meteora said desperately. "Please don't start freaking out. The last person I want to see that happen too is you. You're the one who always knows what to do after all…"

"_Not true. You have made several decisions in situations where I have been helpless. Situations like that time Janna stuck is on that cliff. Situations like this one."_

"You may have a point, but I'm also clueless here." Meteora said. She then looked around, but couldn't see ten feet in front of her. The constant snowstorm happening around them was just too heavy to see through.

"Should I try and cast the spell again?" She asked. "Maybe if I can do it right this time…"

"_No. Definitely not." _The Voice warned her. "_Trying to again without knowing where we are in time could have disastrous consequences, both for ourselves and for this entire dimension. We should gather our bearings first. Find out where we are and what year it is."_

"Okay." Meteora said. "Guess I should just start walking then…"

And so it went. Meteora picked a random direction and just headed that way, her arms wrapped around herself as she struggled to keep warm. But it wasn't working. She could feel herself getting colder by the minute as the environment around her took its toll on her body. If she didn't find someplace soon that wasn't a snowbank, then she would surely freeze to death. Unless, of course...

"H-hey." She said. "S-should I use a spell to t-try and warm myself u-up? It m-might help."

"_You can't. You can risk using magic right now. Any kind of magic. You might be entirely drained of it, and if you try, you will die."_

"I-I don't think I'd m-mind." Meteora said, her teeth chattering. "B-better dying like that then like t-this."

"_I would prefer if you didn't die at all. So don't give up. Not yet." _The Voice said. "_You can't die like this, not after everything you've beaten. I won't let it happen."_

"I-I don't think either of us have a c-choice." Meteora said, her pace slowing down as he legs started to feel heavier.

Soon enough, it looked like there was no hope. Every step she took made her feel weaker than the last, and the cold infiltrated every part of her. She could feel it in her chest, arms, legs, even in her _brain. _All of them feeling like they had been encased in ice. Eventually she wasn't even paying attention to what was in front of her, but was just walking without even thinking about it, like her legs were moving of their own accord.

'This sucks. So. Fucking. Much." She thought, her mind not plagued by the same stutter her voice currently had. "Why did I do that? Why did I lose control of my emotions? All this, just because I got a little angry! It's so unfair! Now I'm going to die and no one will ever know because no one will ever find me in...wherever this is!'

Grumbling, she trudged on, her feet sinking into the snow. It was getting thicker. The snow had risen by at least an inch since she had first arrived, and the blizzard wasn't showing any signs of giving up. She wondered how she hadn't collapsed yet. It had to have been her monster side keeping her warm. Or her Mewman side. Or maybe even what little magic remained in her. It didn't really matter which, as long as it kept her alive. That was all she thought.

But nothing lasts forever, especially when it's protecting you from danger. Meteora was learning this firsthand, and it was the hardest lesson she had ever learned.

And the last.

**20 minutes later…**

"_Meteora? Meteora, can you hear me?"_

"Y-y-yes."

"_How are you...doing? Do you think you need a break? I wouldn't recommend one, but I really think you should rest and-_

"No." She stammered, ignoring the Voice's foolish suggestion. "If I s-stop, I die. C-can't die. N-not yet. H-have to k-keep g-going. For J-Jenkins. For M-Mari. E-Everyone. I c-can't stop."

The Voice made a wincing sound at Meteora's words, which were starting to become more and more unclear. Soon she wouldn't be able to say anything at all. This was bad. She was going to die soon if she didn't find something. The next five minutes were all she had left, maybe even less. But even if they did find shelter, it may already be too late.

"O-okay." She said. "I-I'm going to t-try and use a s-spell. One to h-heat me u-up. D-don't care if I k-kill myself d-doing it. H-have too."

"_At this point, I don't see any other option than hoping you come along something. And you should have enough energy by now to cast something low level like a heating spell. Go for it. Make it up."_

"U-understood." Meteora stammered, surprised by the Voice's agreement towards this. But she wasn't complaining. She shakily raised her arm in the air and concentrated on making a spell out of nothing. It couldn't be that hard.

"H-heat spell!" She yelled, and a moment later, her hand heated up and she felt like she was standing next to a radiator at full blast. She almost smiled right then and there, but the moment soon died, as the heat faded and her hand returned to normal.

"W-what was that?" She asked. "I h-had the s-spell!"

"_It-it must have been too strong a spell to maintain. Too much energy. That or the intense cold around us literally smothered it."_

"I d-don't think t-that's how my s-spells work." Meteora said, but she was too close to argue further. The snow was still falling down in flurries, and was slowly coating the top of her head and shoulders in small piles of the stuff. It would almost be humorous if Meteora's situation didn't look so grim.

"I-it's funny." She said, losing hope. "N-never thought it w-would end like t-this. K-killed by something I o-only got the c-chance to s-see o-once. B-but at least it's p-pretty. At least...at least…"

She stopped where she was, and her body let her know that she couldn't go on. After the failed spell attempt, there was no more energy left in her. She fell to her knees and then let them sink into the snow, while she panted, completely out of breath. But she couldn't feel any of it anymore. Not the cold, not the exhaustion, nothing. She just knew it was done. She was finished.

"_Meteora!" _The Voice yelled. "_Are you-"_

"It's over." She said, doing her best to stop her stuttering. There was no point anymore. "I can't go on. I-I'm dead. Nothing can stop that anymore."

"_No! Don't say that. That only becomes true when you give up, and-"_

"And I did." Meteora said. "I can't feel my arms. Or my legs. I can't feel anything. I just want to rest. I want to go to sleep. And this snow looks so comfortable…"

"_You're becoming delirious." _The Voice said, something meant for both Meteora and itself. "_Focus. Don't lose focus. Focus on what's important. Mariposa! Jenkins! Your mother! You have to get back to them! You have to!"_

"I can't!" Meteora yelled, before losing her balance and falling over. Her face hit the ground and was buried under several feet of snow, making it slightly harder to breath. She lay there, barely moving a muscle.

"G-guess this is it." She whispered, accepting her fate. "It's been fun. You and me. Thanks for helping me along the way. Even if I treated you like shit s-sometimes, I really was grateful for everything you did."

"_Meteora…"_

"Don't." She said. She then used up all of her remaining strength to flip herself over, and now she was staring at the sky, snowflakes hitting her face and melting on impact.

"So beautiful…" She murmured, reaching up towards it. "The snow...is so beautiful. I n-never could have imagined it would look like this. Just an endless field of white. Endless…"

"_Meteora, please get up." _The Voice said, sounding like it was about to cry. "_You can't give up! Not now! You can never give up. There's still so much you have to do, so much you have to do for the world."_

"It won't happen." She said, closing her eyes. "Don't you see? There's nothing left I can do. But just promise me one thing. When I die, tell Mariposa and Jenkins what happened to me, if you can get back to the future. I'd appreciate it. I don't want them thinking I ran away. That I abandoned them."

"_You can tell them that yourself." _The Voice said. "_Because I'm not. I can't promise it, because that's not what's going to happen! You can still do it! I can feel a little bit of energy left in you! You-"_

"Stop." Meteora said. "Please stop. If you don't tell them, fine. But I don't care. I'm not going too. But thanks. Again, thank you. For showing me magic. For showing me everything. And thank you...for letting me see my mother before I went. It was nice. It...it…" Her words stopped suddenly, and the arm she had been reaching towards the sky fell, no longer held up by any kind of life.

"_You can see your mother again. That conversation didn't have to be your only time." _The Voice said, ignoring the fact that her own voice had been suddenly cut off. "_But only if you try hard enough. Listen to me, please."_

"..."

"_...Meteora?"_

"..."

"_METEORA!"_

No answer. Her heart had gone cold, and only the soul remained, inches away from death, able to be stolen at any time.

And the thief was due to arrive very soon.

**End chapter 31**

**A/N: Is this it? Is it the end? For Meteora? For this fanfic? **

**Definitely not.**

**Although I personally felt this was a bit of a lame chapter. **

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	32. Chapter 32: Past and present

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 32**

**Past and Present**

Boredom hung in the air as every person on the bottom floor of the Avarius household stood or sat around doing nothing, all of them waiting for Meteora's return. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes had turned into a full hour since she had left in a hurry, and now everybody was just doing their own thing. Brudo was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, Jenkins was grimacing in a corner while leaning up against the wall, Dennis was mumbling something to himself, Mariposa was rubbing her arm for a reason that only she remembered at the moment, and Lady Avarius was still looking over the family portraits, studying each and every fleck of paint like a critic at a high-class art gallery.

Jenkins tapped his foot impatiently against the floor. Previously he thought she had gone to use the bathroom or something equally insignificant, but after a full hour he was wondering if she had just ran off entirely. That loathsome and untrustworthy Voice might have told her to do so, but if that was the case, then they shouldn't be waiting. They should be out looking for her. Who knows what could have happened.

'I hate all of this.' He thought. 'Why couldn't today have just been a normal day? With normal things trying to kill us? Hell, I'd take another squad of those demons over having to wait around in this wreck of a house. God knows how it's still standing. And we learned that the Avarius' are fucking immortal now, so that's a thing. But why them? What makes them so special? They were hardly a noteworthy family before all this bullshit, so if there's a specific reason they were spared, I'm not seeing it.'

He looked over at Brudo, who looked like he was in a slightly better mood, abit still frowning. No doubt he was still recovering from Jenkins outburst earlier. Probably scared the old bastard half to death. Along with everyone else. Especially Mariposa, after he grabbed her arm and-

And...

'Oh. Shit.' He thought, a wave of shame coming over him. 'Damn it, I can't believe I did that. The look she had on her face...I definitely hurt her. And that meager apology I gave her afterwards was hardly worthy of anything. I'll apologize for real after we leave. The only thing I can do now is hope that she forgives me…'

He turned back toward Brudo. 'But as for you...don't think you're out of the woods yet.' He thought, almost believing that Brudo could hear him for some reason. 'I wouldn't be surprised if this family tears you to pieces for what you've done. And I for one would love to watch that happen.'

Jenkins almost smiled right then and there, but this quickly faded back into a frown as realization hit him in the face like a sack of bricks.

'Oh, don't get so enthusiastic.' He told himself. 'Tearing him apart is what you would do. Not them. Hell, they might be grateful that he saved them all. You're the one who would rather die by the truth then live a lie. Dennis, Lady Avarius, and maybe Cudo are an exception, but I don't think the rest of the family will care about his lies. They'll just care about being alive. I'll have to tell Dennis to try and knock some sense into them.'

After he had finished this disturbing chain of thoughts, Jenkins went back to waiting with the others. And waiting. And waiting. And once it was apparent that Meteora wasn't going to return anytime soon, he straightened himself, brushed his hair out his eyes and got ready to leave.

"Mariposa." He said, catching her attention. "We're leaving. We're going to look for Meteora, because she's obviously not coming back anytime soon."

"Oh thank god." Mariposa said in relief. "I thought I'd have to request to go do that myself. What took you so long?"

"I got tired of waiting." Jenkins said. "And you could have asked at any time. I'm not sure I would have stopped you…"

"Gee, that would have been nice to know." She scoffed. "But it doesn't matter. Okay. We're leaving." She turned towards the various Avarius's in the room. "Dennis, thanks for your help. Brudo, not so much. And um...you." She said, pointing at Lady Avarius. "Do yourself a favor and rip Brudo out of those paintings. It'll make staring at them a lot less painful."

Lady Avarius didn't respond, but Dennis nodded. "No problem." He said. "And if you guys ever need any help…...feel free to drop by I guess? I don't think we'll be leaving this place anytime soon."

"Why not?" Jenkins asked.

"Are you kidding?" Dennis asked, shocked that they would ask a question like that. "We have nowhere else to go. This house is all we have now. Everything else is destroyed or dead. There's nothing out there."

"We're still here." Mariposa pointed out.

Dennis paused for a moment. "Well, you guys are the exception. You got one of the worlds biggest badasses raising and protecting you out there, and your sister has magic. I think you're good."

"I appreciate the compliment." Jenkins said, even if he personally felt it was something of an exaggeration. "But there's still a lot out there. In fact, we know where we're going after we take care of the Underworld war."

"After the what?"

"Not important right now." Jenkins said. "Hopefully, at least. But like I said, we know where we're going. There's a community a long way away from here. Meteora said so after she communicated with her mother using some kind of dream spell. It's full of almost everyone from this town that survived. That's our end goal."

"..."

"So yeah. You could just go there."

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?" Dennis asked. "We might already be packing our things! Now that we know there's still a place out there for us, we have no reason to stay here!"

"Slipped my mind." Jenkins said. "Simple as that. But you shouldn't leave yet. You need us to help you get there. Since you've been in this house since the beginning, you wouldn't last a day out there." He pointed towards the door. "Everything that isn't an ally wants to kill you. You can't trust anyone, can't listen to anyone, best thing to do is lay low and keep to yourself. Which, I'll admit, we haven't been very successful at…"

"Okay, but just how bad is it?" Dennis asked. "What kind of things have you guys seen out there?"

"I don't even know where to begin…" Jenkins said, reminiscing. "It's crazy. It's all crazy. How about that time-"

"When I saw an eleven year old girl bash a boys head in with a rock." Mariposa interrupted, deciding to hit them with the worst thing she had. "And that boy was the same age as her. Only eleven. Not even a teenager. But she didn't care. She hit him again and again, not stopping for anything. Not even when his head was in two separate pieces. And then she ran away with her family, leaving the body behind. There's something for you. That's how bad it can get."

A heavy silence suddenly hung over the air, even heavier than what it had been before. Three-fifths of the room was horrified by what they had heard. It was impossible to try and hide it.

"Oh my god…" Dennis said. "What-what did you guys do to that girl? Did you chase her down? What happened to her?"

"Nothing." Mariposa said. "Because that girl was me."

Less than a second after she said that, several things happened at the same time. Dennis stumbled away from her, his hand covering his mouth in shock. Lady Avarius stopped gazing at the paintings to look at Mariposa in shock and slight fear. Brudo scooted away from her on the floor, acting like she would do the exact same thing to him that she just described. And Jenkins just looked away from the scene, not actually being conscious to witness the event but still remembering how Mariposa had described it. Tears and all.

"You-you…" Dennis stuttered. "You really-"

"I did it to protect them." Mariposa said. "My sister and Jenkins. That boy had hurt Meteora, so I retaliated. Brutally. Violently. With almost no hesitation. I only realized what I had done after the fact. And that's when I started crying my eyes out."

"All that…" Dennis said, horrified. "At only eleven years old?"

Mariposa nodded.

Dennis put a hand on his forehead and slowly rubbed it across his scalp. "Uh...wow. I mean, I don't know what to say. I figured that it must be pretty bad out there, but I never thought it would come to something like-"

"Grow some thicker skin." Jenkins said. "Bit of a recommendation there. I know it sounds harsh, but it's something you're going to need. Because while an event like this is rare, and has really only happened to us once, it still happened. So there's a chance something like it might happen again. That's the world now. It hurts. It hurts even when you're doing something that shouldn't bring you pain. People abandon and kill each other over the pettiest reasons. And as for Mariposa's story...well, we had to abandon someone too. I can only imagine what happened to that boy's sister. What she woke up too…"

"Hold on." Dennis said. "Sister? He wasn't alone?"

"Wha-of course he wasn't along!" Mariposa screeched. "If he was alone, Jenkins would have just punched him in the face and ended it! No need for me to attack him like a rabid animal."

"Okay okay! Sorry!" Dennis said, taking another step back. "Didn't mean to make you mad." He muttered. "But uh, sister? Who else was with him?"

"Their parents." Jenkins said. "It was a whole family."

"What happened to the paren-"

"Ah, they were assholes." Jenkins said casually. "I killed them. But only because they tried it first. But after they died, that boy's sister went nutso, can't really blame her though, and tazed me. I fell, and they attacked Meteora and Mariposa. Meteora knocked the girl out, then that boy attacked her and cut her cheek open. And then you know what happened next.."

Dennis bit his bottom lip. This was even worse than he ever could have expected. Eleven year old girls bashing in people's heads? The bombs were one thing, but this...this was just horrible.

But the story wasn't finished quite yet.

"And so we left her." Mariposa chimed in. "Me and Meteora carried Jenkins out of there and left that boys sister. We never went back, never looked back, and eventually I started to forget about her a week later. We were all scared that she would come back for revenge, but she never did." Mariposa looked away guiltily, clearly disgusted by her own actions.

"What-what do you think happened to her?" Dennis asked.

"She's dead." Jenkins said confidently. "No way she survived for long out there by herself. And from what Meteora and Mariposa told me, she was roughed her up pretty badly."

"So when she woke up…"

"She was met with the sight of her dead brother, brains spilling out into the ground and all." Jenkins sighed. "Alright. Time to change the subject. This is getting disturbing, even for me."

That was certainly saying something, and everyone in the room couldn't agree more.

"Why don't we talk about-" Mariposa started, before they saw a flash of golden light from outside, right in the edge of their vision. Everyone looked at the smashed in door as the light faded as soon as it had appeared. It had almost looked like…

"A spell?" Jenkins said. "Okay, Meteora Is definitely doing something out there. That seals it. She's definitely not coming back anytime soon, so I'm going out like I said earlier. You guys are free to join me." He glared at Brudo. "Except for you of course. If you step anywhere outside this house without me knowing, you're dead."

Jenkins the left and exited the house, his footsteps quickly fading. Mariposa was quick to follow him and headed for the door as well.

"Wait." Dennis said, making her stop mid-step. "You guys aren't leaving forever, right? You'll come back and help us get to that place Jenkins was talking about?"

Mariposa paused and then opened her mouth slightly, but said nothing. Eventually she nodded and spoke.

"Yeah. I promise. We're not going to abandon you guys out here. You deserve a better life than this. We all do. But like Jenkins said, stay in the house for now. Chain Brudo up or something, and...wait."

Mariposa then turned back towards the door and resumed her saunter, leaving a few moments later. Everyone watched in silence as she left, and then Dennis turned to his father.

"I think it's time you get what you deserve for lying to us…"

**Sometime in the past…**

In another time, and most certainly another place, a lone lizard made their way through a thick snowbank. Tall, determined, and not letting anything stop him from completely his journey. A journey they had made several times before. But that didn't make it any less dangerous. The environment out here was cold and unforgiving, claiming anything and everything. Even the few animals they had evolved to survive in these lands seemed to freeze to death on the regular. And at the same time, it was a beautiful sight. One of deception and cruelty. One of deceit and duplicity.

But it was still beautiful.

They trudged along, leaving enormous footprints in the snow that would be covered up in mere minutes. It was simply amazing just how hard the snow could fill them up. The power of a blizzard in a place like this was incredible. But they didn't care about blizzards any more than they cared about what shape the snowflakes falling around them were. They were looking for food. Anything would do at this point. Tree bark, a patch of grass, even a dead body. They had learned to never be picky. Out here, one couldn't afford to-

They stopped.

They blinked slowly and rubbed their eyes.

Something was lying on the ground in front of them.

As they took a closer look at the scene, they saw that it was something unfamiliar. Something that had clothes. Which meant it was something alive.

Carefully, they unsheathed their knife and held it out in front of them, taking no chances. Anything that had the strength and wits to make this far deep into the snowy wastes must be powerful. But as he got closer, he saw a disappointing sight. One that quickly filled hm with anger.

A Mewman?

He almost threw up as he saw that his brief suspicion was correct. A Mewman, half-buried in the snow, their eyes facing the sky. He could tell just from looking at them. He looked closer. Was what were they doing this far out? This far away from their little towns? The Mewman in question appeared to be some kind of teenage girl, wearing clothes that shouldn't have lasted her the journey one would have taken to get this far. It didn't make sense.

"How did you get out here…" He grumbled. But in all honesty, it didn't matter. Mewmans were plague upon this world, and to kill them was a duty he must abide. All thoughts besides a brutal killing instinct were swept out of his mind as he approached them further and raised their knife in the air, preparing to finish it off.

But then he hesitated. This wasn't right. He had to do it properly. One must do everything properly.

He wanted her to see him as he killed her. That was the only way to kill. He wasn't an assassin. He wasn't some weak coward hiding in the shadows, refusing to fight a real battle. And while this wasn't a "real" battle, he didn't have much of a choice.

"Wake up." He growled, kicking her in the ribs. But the girl remained unmoving.

"Wake up!" He thundered, kicking her again. Harder, quicker, and with such force that it would make any normal person throw up from the blow.

But still she didn't stir.

The lizard tilted their head at this. How was she still unconscious? He leaned down and put two of his fingers to her neck. Her skin was as cold as ice and felt like it was made of glass, as if striking it would shatter it into pieces.

He waited. He waited for a heartbeat, but none came.

Dead.

He scoffed. Why didn't he figure that out from the beginning? Of course the girl was dead. She wasn't moving. She didn't look like she was breathing, and anybody lying on the ground in a place like this was sure to be a corpse.

But her status as a corpse didn't matter anymore. What mattered to him was how long she had been just that. His mind flickered back to what he had been thinking about earlier.

"Hmm...when did it happen?" He wondered aloud. He thought about it for a brief moment. "If it's only been a few hours, the body shouldn't have spoiled. My food supplies are too low to pass this opportunity up. Anything goes at this point…"

They looked down at the girl, as if expecting her to give them an answer.

Silence.

"Heh." They chuckled. "What am I doing? Take the body, figure it out later. Doesn't matter how long she's been dead anyways, the cold would have preserved the meat no matter what."

They bent down to pick the girl up, brushing some snow off her face while doing so. But as they did this, they felt something sharp prick their finger. They pulled back and stared at their finger in confusion, which now had a tiny bead of blood on it, and then back at the girl. They looked closer again, seeing that there was something they had missed. Something that was not supposed to be there.

Horns?

Yes, horns. A pair of two monster-esque horns sticking out of the girls head. How he had missed them until now was anyone's guess.

This was odd. Very, very odd. He reeled back in confusion. He had heard stories of Mewmans growing horns before, usually by some kind of mutation, but these didn't look like some kind of messy mutation. They were sleek, clean, and sharp. They almost looked like they belonged there.

He frowned and decided to investigate further. Perhaps there was more to this corpse than a quick meal. Picking her up from under her shoulders, he shook all the snow off and looked at her up and down, searching for anything else that shouldn't be there.

The second thing he noticed was the ears. One of them was bandaged and looked like part of it was missing, but the other was pointed and elf-like. Also a trait not normally found in Mewmans. Now he was even more suspicious. Something was definitely wrong with this girl.

But it was the third thing that really set it in.

A tail. A medium-length, purple tail with a white fluff ball at the end of it. The horns and ears were one thing, but this he just couldn't understand. This was entirely new. A species he hadn't known about perhaps? Or something else altogether?

He frowned. There was only one way to find out. He set the girl on the ground again and pulled his bag off his back. Zipping it open, he started rummaging around in it like someone shopping for groceries.

"Vials...vials...where did I-ah." He said, finding what he was looking for. A set of rainbow colored vials, each of them unique in power. He looked back to the girl and then back to the set. If he wanted to find answers, he knew what he had to do. Fake being friendly.

"You better be worth this." He warned, although no one else was around to hear it. "Otherwise I'm chewing your face off inch by inch…"

He zipped his bag up, threw it in his back, grabbed the girl, threw that over his shoulder, and kept going.

...

There is a place.

Known only to a few.

A place with infinite borders and endless skies. A place, by all the laws of magic and universe, that should not exist.

But it does. It is the place for the survivors. The ones that lasted the longest when all odds were against them. Created by the first Reflection, in a moment of doubt, when they decided that such a place was needed.

Almost impossible to enter, and equally impossible to exit, it is seen as one of the greatest honors to be taken to this dimension.

But there is a sub-dimension of these lands.

The realm for those whose internal clocks are due to start once again.

And that is where Meteora Butterfly currently resides.

...

She awoke.

And she wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

The face of that level five being? The face of Lythol? Neither? Maybe she could finally meet the Voice. See what it really looked like. Only for it to then berate her for dying and ruining everything. Or maybe she would see her mother one last time, a small miracle that was never going to happen.

But what she knew for certain is that she was dead.

She heard no heartbeat. She wasn't breathing. She felt no hunger, no thirst, no nothing.

Just emptiness.

She tried to open her eyes, but they didn't respond for some reason. She was awake, but her body didn't seem to realize it. Only the mind.

She was dead.

The thought repeated in her mind like a mantra.

Dead. Dead. Dead.

She wanted to cry out. Then she wanted to cry. But no sound could be made, no noise could be heard, she could do nothing for herself anymore. The thought was poisonous and true. And a new one came to mind.

What had changed?

She still remembered. She remembered it all. The snow. The travel spell. The cold stinging her skin and bringing her to her knees. Then her acceptance of her fate. And the faint sound of the Voice calling out for her a final time, sounding so scared, so worried. Something that didn't happen often.

Then it had all gone dark. And now she was here. In...wherever this was.

She couldn't feel anything anymore. But she could sense movement around her. Footsteps echoing against the ground, creating vibrations that seemed to cause her whole body to tremble. Almost like a great earthquake was occuring.

She tried to move again. But still her body stubbornly refused. She would have cursed if she had access to her mouth. But even that small gift had been taken away.

Then she felt a hand touch her face.

Her eyes would have widened if they could, and she tried to scream. But as expected, it never came to pass. The hand felt rough. Scaly. She felt it touch the point of one of her horns and then pull back suddenly, apparently upset.

'Come on.' She thought. 'Get up Meteora. You have to open your eyes. You have to-'

Before she could give herself any more useless words of self encouragement, she felt two hands grab her, lifting her up from under her armpits and then shaking her violently. She was now nothing short of terrified, at the mercy of an opponent that she couldn't see. She didn't know if she could die again, and she wasn't particularly interested in finding out.

Before she could think about any further though, she felt herself being thrown over someone's shoulder, some kind of cloth now pressing against her. She felt movement and realized that she was being carried. She tried to growl. She tried to let out some sound of protest, but there was nothing but silence.

All she could now was wait.

**The Present…**

"Come on, where the heck did it go? That light was right here. Right. Here. She couldn't have possibly gotten they far away in-"

"Jenkins!"

At the sound of his voice being called out, Jenkins put his self-complaints on hold and turned around to see Mariposa speed-walking towards him. He grinned slightly. So she decided to come along. Good. Now that Meteora might be missing, he could use all the help he could get.

But then he recalled a promise he had made earlier. One he had still yet to fulfill.

"I'm coming with you." Mariposa said, catching up to him. "There's no way I'm staying in that house, plus I think that-"

"Wait." Jenkins said, before kneeling down slightly to get to her level. Mariposa arched an eyebrow at this behavior, which could be called peculiar. As a start.

"I...just want to say that I'm sorry." He said. "For grabbing you like that earlier and squeezing your arm. I didn't mean to hurt you, it was just that after Brudo mentioned making a deal, I started to freak out inside, and then you-"

"It's okay." Mariposa said, putting a hand up. She had already forgiven him for the most part. "I-I get it. You didn't mean to hurt me. I know you would never hurt either of us. And you didn't really hurt me that much. Honestly."

"Are you sure?" Jenkins asked fearfully. "I was just concerned about-"

"Don't let it eat you up inside." Mariposa said, waving him off. Now that he had really apologized, she wanted the whole event to be forgotten like it should be. Like most things today should be really.

"Oh." Jenkins said, surprised that it had been that easy. "Well, I guess that's that then." He smiled slightly, happy that she held no real animosity towards him.

"Sure." Mariposa said. "But promise me that you won't go nuts again. If I lose you, then me and Meteora are doomed."

"Eh, I wouldn't be so sure." Jenkins said. "You guys seem like you have the capacity to do fine without me. I'm sure I could have left at several points in the past and you two could have easily survived. I've taught you literally everything you need to know by this point."

"Doesn't mean I don't forget some of it at times…" Mariposa said. "Like all your knot tying lessons. I don't remember those. I know we did them, but that's it. I don't remember how to tie a knot. I don't think I even know how to tie a pair of shoes." She looked down at her velcro shoes, the same pair she had been wearing for over a year. To say they were in a sorry state would be an understatement. "Speaking of which, I think I'm going to need a new pair soon…"

"When we get back to the Underworld, we can ask Dave about it." Jenkins said. "But it's okay. I never expect you to have perfect memory for those lessons. I'll admit, even out here, a good chunk of the stuff you learned you'll only use maybe once or twice. Or never at all. Do you remember that time like 7 years ago when Meteora looked in the dictionary we found and saw the word igloo? I can still remember the look on her face when I told her that it was literally impossible for us to make one."

Mariposa laughed. A low, forced laugh. But it was still a laugh. "She was so disappointed. She was disappointed with a lot of things back then. Sucks we had to use that dictionary for kindling when our fire went out that one time…"

"Still regret doing that." Jenkins said. "Still regret doing that."

"Don't worry about it." Mariposa said. "I'm sure we'll find another one eventually."

"Wanna bet?"

"Definitely not." Mariposa replied. She then averted her gaze away from Jenkins and looked out into the woods, frowning all the while. "But seriously, where is she? I don't see any sign of her."

"I'm going to assume she went back to the portal." Jenkins said. "Maybe to try and move that stone again. So...I guess we should check over there."

The two then set off for the portal, looking for a person that was impossible to find.

…

'Keep trying. One more time. Just…...argh! Useless! Uselessuselessuselessuselesss-'

It had been hours. Hours since Meteora had been awkwardly picked up, shook, and then thrown over the shoulder of an invisible scaly creature. All the while not being able to see, hear, or even move. It was hellish. She had tried to move time and time again, each time thinking she was getting closer, but ultimately failing in the end. Like a machine on loop performing one function for all eternity.

But whatever was carrying her had stopped after a while. She had been roughly thrown onto the ground, and now she was back to staring into darkness, her new (and only) hobby.

And she was still afraid. Afraid of what would happen next. Possibilities swarmed into her mind. Under attack by an enemy she couldn't stop and couldn't see. She didn't want to think about it, but it happened anyways.

None of the outcomes she saw were good.

Then she felt something being poured on her forehead. It felt cold. Thin. But tingly? It was the same kind of feeling she got when casting a spell. She wanted to try and stop it, but now she was too intrigued. Was somebody putting some kind of weird potion on her?

Whatever the liquid was streamed down her face and got in her eyes and mouth, and even though Meteora couldn't taste anything, she could still feel it. Soupy. Colder than anything she had drunk before. And still having the feeling of magic behind it.

'What are they doing…' She thought. She was still clueless about what was going on. She knew she was dead, and likely in some form of limbo, but other then that she knew nothing. And it was even worse without the Voice telling her everything about this place. Because that's what it did. She asked, it answered. And now it was gone. Meteora wondered. Did it die too? Could they even happen?

This question would have to wait as she felt the sensation of another stream of liquid being poured on her, this time over her right arm. It felt similar to the first liquid, but slightly warmer. Like a glass of water that had been sitting out in a cool basement for hours. Meteora started to get an idea of what was going to happen after they were done with her right arm.

This process repeated itself four more times, just like she suspected. After the second stream of liquid had stopped, another one splashed over her left arm. Then her torso. And then her right and left legs. Each one increased in temperature as it went on. The last one was so hot it felt like it would boil her skin right off.

But the pain soon faded and turned into something else entirely. She could move her legs again. Then her arms. Then the rest of her body. The emptiness that had surrounded them ceased as she slowly regained control. Then she heard something that had been noticeably absent for quite some time.

Her heartbeat.

It was slow and rather faint, but she still heard it. And it was the most beautiful sound she had even heard. Then her breath returned to her loud and quick gasps. And after that, there was only one thing left to do.

She opened her eyes, ready to return to life.

Only for the first thing she saw to be a mouthful of teeth looming over her. She screamed in terror and instinctively punched whatever it was in the face with everything she had, sending the toothy creature flying backwards out of sight. She leaped up off the ground and backed away as fast as she could, her back eventually hitting what felt like a wall made out of old logs.

The figure she had just socked in the jaw groaned and held the bruise she had made, before spitting out a few teeth into the floor. The creature stared at her with newfound contempt, it's terrible yellow eyes boring her skull.

"S-stay back!" Meteora yelled. "I have magic!" She held her arm and pointed it at the creature, hoping that it would glow in response. It didn't, but it was enough. The figure stayed where it was, cautiously moving backwards.

"I don't want to hurt you." It said. Meteora flinched at the sound of it's voice. Deep. Male. Raspy, like it's throat had been horribly burned. It was a voice that she took an immediate dislike to. "I just want to talk."

"And why should I believe you?" Meteora asked, keeping her arm steady. "When I woke up, it looked like you were about to bite a chunk out of my face!"

"Yes. And I apologize for that." The creature said politely. "It was merely bad timing. I wasn't trying to...eat you or anything like that."

Meteora glowered at them. It's claim didn't reassure her at all. Lying was hardly a difficult thing to do. Although why would it bring her back just to chow down on her nose a second later…?

"I know you're scared." It continued, knocking Meteora into the real world. "But I don't mean you any harm. I promise."

Meteora gulped. Although her magic bluff was working for now, it was just that: a bluff. She could feel how drained she was. There was no way she would be able to cast any type of spell right now, much less an attack one. And with the Voice apparently absent, she was alone in this.

So she just had to start asking questions. As per usual. That's what seemed to take up most of her damn life nowadays anyways.

"Where am I?" She asked. "And who the hell are you?"

"You're in my home." The creature answered. "I brought you here after I found you out there." It pointed a thumb at a nearby door. "As for who I am, you can call me...Erysichthon."

Meteora paused. "Ery-what now?"

"Erysichthon" sighed. "Just called me Ery. Everyone else does. Although I suppose that's not really saying much, considering you're the first real person I've met in weeks."

"Weeks?" Meteora said. "How far away are we from civilization?"

"A good day's walk." Ery said. "And right now, with the way the snow is blowing, you wouldn't make it five feet outside without freezing solid."

Meteora shuddered. "That...reminds me. When you found me out there...was I, um, d-dead?"

Ery nodded. "Yes." He said. "You have been dead for a while, although the snow had preserved your body long enough for me to bring you back here and resurrect you."

Although Meteora has suspected that that was exactly what had happened, it was still a shock. But this certainly explained what had happened earlier with her being carried, although the shaking was still a mystery.

But they didn't answer how they did.

"How did you do it?" She asked. "Did you use magic to bring me back?"

"No." Ery said. "Well, technically, yes. I used a mix of magic and a few other things."

"Like what?"

"Something that you don't need to know about." Ery replied.

"Actually, I do." Meteora said. "If you brought me back to life, then I'd like to know what you used, so I can know if there's any side effects."

"There not." Ery said confidently. "And I don't want you to know, because I don't want you to go around babbling about it. If somebody knew the secret, then everyone would soon."

Meteora clenched her teeth. Ery made a good point. She wouldn't want everyone to know all of her secrets either.

Although it's not like she had many to begin with…

"So, I guess you know what magic still exists?" Ery asked. "Considering you were threatening me with it earlier and you mentioned if I brought you back with it."

"Yeah…" Meteora said.

"Then who told you?"

"Um, I don't want you to know that. If somebody knew the secret, everyone would." She said, echoing Ery's own words, who chuckled in response.

"That's fair." He said. "I don't want anyone knowing about how I found out either. Although it seems you're more skilled than me, if you really know spells. Controlling the magic contained in those atoms is extremely difficult."

"You get used to it if you do it long enough." Meteora said. "So you don't know any spells then?"

"No." Ery said. "And I'm not afraid to admit that. No point in making a threat if I can't ever deliver on it."

"Yeah...no point." Meteora said, who was doing just that at the moment. "Now where are we? And I don't mean your house this time. I mean where are we in the world?"

"I believe the humans call it Canada." Ery said. "Northern Canada. Nothing but ice and snow up here. I live here because nobody else does, and I like to be alone."

'Canada?' Meteora thought. 'Jenkins told me about that country once. It's way up north. How the hell did I get up there? Come to think of it, why did the time traveling spell change my location too? What the hell is up with that?'

"Now, it's time for my questions." Ery said. "Who are you, and where did you come from?"

"I…" Meteora hesitated. This person might not even know who she was depending on when she was. Still a baby back then, although apparently she was famous. But if Ery likes to keep to himself...then he might know nothing. And she didn't have the time to come up with a new name and make it convincing.

Wait. She didn't need to come up with one at all. She could just...

"Mariposa." She said. "Just Mariposa."

Ery scratched his head. "Mariposa, eh? Can't say I've heard the name before. Guessing you're not from around here, are you? How's you get here?"

"I...can't remember." Meteora said, deciding to go with the amnesia route. "I heard a voice telling me to go somewhere, and I remember walking in the snow. Then...nothingness."

"Amnesia, eh?" Ery said. "That's a shame. You look like you have quite a story to tell…"

"What do you mean?" Meteora asked, finally lowering her arm.

"Well, just look at you." Ery replied. "You look like a Mewman, but you got horns, those weird ears, and that tail. And if I didn't know better, I think there's a semblance of some claws on your hands…"

Meteora winced. While she was grateful that Ery was evidently too thick to immediately discern that she was half-monster, her appearance definitely had him looking at her suspiciously. She had to be careful. Hopefully she could keep this conversation going long enough for her magic to recharge if Ery decided to attack.

"Oh, is there?" Meteora said, looking herself up and down while still playing dumb. "Where I come from, this is how most people look. I'm considered quite normal by my society's standards."

"And what society is that?" Ery asked, his left eye narrowing slightly.

"Uh, the…Jenoraclipa society." Meteora said, combining the first three names that popped into her head. "I wouldn't expect you to know anything about it. We're very reclusive."

"No kidding." Ery said. "Never heard of anything like that before. Ah well, can't know everything. How far away from it is here?"

"I don't know." Meteora said. "I know we're in northern Canada, but how far north?"

"Far enough that you could walk south for three days straight and it would still be an arctic wasteland." Ery said. "So...pretty far."

"Well that's just great." Meteora said. "Now I'll never see any of my friends or family ever again!"

"I wouldn't say that." Ery said. "Listen Mariposa. Or Mari. Can I call you Mari?"

Meteora flinched at Ery's use of her sisters nickname, a nickname that she invented first. But right now, there were more important things to care about. And if it made things easier…

"Sure." She said. "Call me whatever you like."

"O…k." Ery said, briefly confused. "Listen Mari, you can't lose hope like that. I'll get you back to wherever you need to go."

"Really?" Meteora asked. "You'd do that for a total stranger?"

"Hey, it's not like I got much going on." Ery said. "And besides, you could help me. In fact, I promise to get you home if you help me with one little thing."

"What is it?"

Ery paused and smiled. "It requires your magic."

"Magic?" Meteora said. "You want me to cast a spell for you?"

"That's exactly right." Ery said. "Nothing much, just a little thing, but it will me greatly. As well as others…"

"Well, if it's helping people…" Meteora shrugged. "I guess I can do it."

Ery grinned even wider, his teeth now showing off like a sharks. "Excellent." He said. "Now, I'm sure you're hungry, so let me fix you something up." Ery then turned around and rummaged around in what looked like a pile of old fruit, searching for a ripe one. Meteora stared in shock as he turned his back to her, seeming to forget that she could just sneak up and kill him at any moment while he was like that.

'Wow, he's really trusting.' She thought. 'If I had magic, I could literally blast him from behind right now. But he doesn't even seem to care. Am I really that important to him? Is my magic really worth that much? To the point where-'

"Yes."

If Meteora was drinking anything she would have spit it out at the sudden voice abruptly speaking in her head. She almost started freaking out before she remembered who it was. The Voice.

"I apologize for my absence." It said. "Because I'm pretty sure you're going to ask where I've been."

"No shit." Meteora whispered, trying her hardest to not scream at it. "Where have you been? I could have been killed again by this guy. Or worse. And you wouldn't have even been there to see it. What happened?" Meteora continued to struggle keeping her voice at a whisper, knowing they Ery was still lurking around no more than a dozen feet away.

"You died, that's what happened." The Voice replied. "A few moments after that unfortunate event, I was thrust back into the mind realm until that lizard brought you back. I stayed silent so I could analyze the situation, see what we were dealing with."

"And of course you didn't speak up." Meteora grumbled. "That could have ended very badly. For both of us."

"It's still going to end badly. In fact, I'd leave while we still can. The snowstorm outside is much more preferable to this."

"Why? Do you know Ery?"

"No." The Voice hesitated. "But if we are where he says we are, and if we traveled to when I think we are, then Ery is the least of our problems…"

Meteora clenched her fist upon hearing this. Whatever the answer to her next question would be, it was going to be bad. She could feel it.

"Why?" She asked. "What about this place is so important?"

"Because if my suspicions are correct, then we are only a few hours walk from the prison where Seth it Septaris is currently being held."

Meteora felt her breath being taken away from her like she had been punched in the gut.

"A-and what does that mean for us?" She stammered.

"Nothing." The Voice said. "Apart from the fact that he is due to escape very soon…"

**End chapter 32**

**A/N: That should be fun. We have a new character, a new setting, and a whole new crisis to resolve.**

**What a mess.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	33. Chapter 33: Visions of a better time

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 33**

**Visions of a better time**

"Soooo...is it much to your liking? What do you think?"

"It's, uh, good. Little salty, but good."

"Salty? Really? I haven't had salt for fifteen years."

"..."

"..."

"Well...if there's anything else I can do to make you comfortable, just ask. You deserve a break after literally dying out there. It's the least I can offer you."

"T-thanks."

He gave her a nod. A reassuring smile. And then walked away from Meteora, leaving her by herself in her own corner of the room like he trusted her with his life.

Three hours.

It had been three hours since Meteora had been brought back to the hut of this "Ery" and then brought back to life. And now, he was being more friendly than Meteora thought humanly or mewmanly possible. After she had calmed down and agreed to not blast in the face with a spell (which she still couldn't summon, something he was thankfully ignorant of) he had literally offered her a bowl of soup and insisted the he go without eating for the night, despite the fact that he clearly couldn't afford to go hungry. His food supplies were even lower than theirs was at the moment. Which was certainly saying something.

Although him playing nice definitely gave her an opportunity to think about her next move. The Voice's warning about Seth's prison being only a few hours walk from here as well as the fact that he was to escape rather soon still lingered in the back of her mind, but she wasn't too worried about it. It was the past after all. What had happened happened.

But it's not like that was the mindset she had at first.

She absolutely _hated _the fact that the Voice has convinced her to not mess with the prison or try to stop the jailbreak. She had gone on with another silent rant about how this could be the key to saving everyone, until the Voice reminded her _yet again _that changing this past would only create an alternate timeline, and when she traveled back to her future nothing would have changed. Meteora still wanted to do it though, try and create a timeline where it's version of her, her sister, and Jenkins didn't have to go through fifteen years of hell.

Unfortunately, the Voice had told her it was too risky, and she agreed after an awful lot of convincing. And it had made some good points. What would she even tell them anyways? That she was from the future? Granted, she had lots of evidence. She knew things about Jenkins that surely only past him knew at the moment, so it wouldn't be hard to convince him. Showing them magic would also get their attention, and the past version of her mother would certainly recognize her own daughter, even all grown up. And in the unlikely event that she didn't, they could just do one of those blood test things that Jenkins had mentioned to them.

It was the least she could do. Just like this was the least Ery said he could do for her. Try and make things right in one timeline. Hers would still be a hellscape, but at least she would know what there was somewhere out there in the multiverse where everyone was happy.

But she couldn't do that. It would take too long, and she had people to get back to, a war to win, and enemies to defeat.

She swore under her breath. Multiple times. Fortune had certainly turned against her this time, as per usual.

Although the Voice certainly didn't agree with this. According to it, she should be thanking the level five being (despite the fact that Lythol had imprisoned it) that she hadn't stayed dead and that Ery has found her. Even though it was gone at the current moment (again). Apparently it was "investigating" why the time-travel spell hadn't killed her or what they had traveled to this time in a moment of anger. And the time she was in time was an odd one. Roughly five months before the apocalypse, give or take a few. This wasn't what she had hoped for. A little further back maybe, and it would have been nice to have been dropped somewhere _else _than in the literal middle of nowhere.

And not freezing to death would have been a plus too.

But she had chosen to ignore the Voice's foolish suggestion to get out while she still could. Ery had food and water and shelter. While she was still weary of him, especially considering how overly friendly he was to her, she was beginning to warm up. But she remembered to always keep him in her sights. Odds were that she wasn't going to be getting much sleep tonight, if fate decided that this was where she was staying.

She bit the side of her lip and slurped down the rest of the soup, which slightly bitter with a salty aftertaste. Meteora didn't know what was in it, some kind of weird fruit perhaps, but she would eat anything if it kept her from going hungry. She would have asked for some water as well, but she was so nervous that she figured her mouth would go dry a minute or so after drinking it anyways.

As for right now though, she just had to pass time until her magic returned so she wouldn't be completely defenseless. If Ery was a true Septarian like she suspected, then there was no way she could take him in a one-on-one fight without magic. _Even _if she returned to full strength. She had fought Septarians before, and it was an experience she did not wish to recount. She still had a scar on her ankle from when one of the scaly bastards had slashed her with its claws.

"Are you done with that?" A voice from above her said. Meteora jumped as she saw Ery looming over her, offering his hand out to take the bowl. She had been so consumed in her own thoughts that she hadn't even seen or heard him approach.

'So much for keeping an eye on him…' She thought, berating herself for not paying closer attention. 'If he wanted too, he could have killed me right then and there.'

"Um, yeah." Meteora said, handing the bowl over to him. "It was actually really good. Thank You."

Ery shrugged. "No problem. I can do without food for a night. You definitely need it more than me after all."

"You already said that." Meteora pointed out, faking an amused smile. "Several times in fact."

"That's because it's true." Ery said, before getting a sad look on his face. "Listen, I get it if you don't trust me. I mean, just look at me! I'm a lizard! We have a pretty bad reputation, no matter where you go. Mewmans hate us more than any other monsters, humans distrust no matter how hard we try to convince them we want to help, and even the other monsters don't seem particularly fond of keeping us around. Maybe if they just got to _know _us, they would see we're not all bad."

Ery sighed, and Meteora could see a tried look in his eyes. Did he truly want to help? Everything he had done up to point showed signs that this was the truth, although it could certainly all be faked. Although it _wasn't_ because he was a lizard. She was afraid of what he was because of how easily he could overpower her, _not _because of anything else. She wasn't about to let herself sink down to the level of someone like Mina, who always seemed to come up in Jenkins stories. That was a person she just couldn't be.

"I understand." Meteora said, deciding to come up with a lie on the spot. "Back in Jenoraclipsa, some people were chased out by others because of how they looked. That even to some of my closest friends."

Ery scowled. "Disgusting." He said. "You certainly made the right choice in leaving that place and coming here. Shame that you don't remember how though…"

"Well, I still don't know if I left on purpose or if I was exiled because I was trying to help my friends." Meteora replied. "Because helping people that are set to be kicked out of the community is grounds for being kicked out yourself."

"I can't believe what I am hearing." Ery growled. "If I find this place, I promise I will drag whoever made those laws into the streets and bite their head off."

"Um, thanks." Meteora said, her eyes darting to the side. "Little excessive, but I guess they do deserve it."

"Of course they do." Ery said. "Those disgusting bigoted lawmakers deserve nothing but punishment. And I will deliver only the harshest ones upon them." He sighed and looked around before stretching his arms and legs. "It's almost night time." He said. "Are you going to stay here, or will you take your chances out there?"

He pointed to the large and imposing door that stood to her right, which answered with a loud gust of cold wind from outside that seemed to shake the entire hut. Almost like nature itself had sensed that doing so would make a mildly dramatic moment.

Meteora knew she had no choice. The temperature had no doubt dropped even further now that it was dark, so she wouldn't last five seconds out there before turning into a block of ice.

"...I'll stay here." She finally said. "I don't think I'll make it out there."

"Good, because I wouldn't have let you leave anyways." Ery said. "Going outside at night is suicide. Temperatures drop well below zero, and you can even feel it in here. Good thing the lumber that made up this place is the wood from _that _tree, or else this place wouldn't last a single day."

"That tree? What are you talking about?" Meteora asked.

Ery paused and then bit the inside of his lip, almost like he regretted saying that. Meteora could see that whatever the "tree" was, he wasn't going to tell her about it.

"That's not important." He said, just like Meteora suspected he would. "But if you're staying for the night, then do you want a blanket or something? I have a spare or two."

"I'd love one, thanks." Meteora said, getting up off the ground. "But, uh…" She hesitated, not looking forward to asking the question she had in mind.

"Is there a problem?"

"Do...you have a bathroom?" Meteora asked sheepishly. "I kind of need to use it."

Ery pointed to a door on the far side of the hut that looked like it was made of driftwood. "It's in there." He said. "Try not to make a mess though, I don't have any cleaning materials."

Meteora didn't respond to this and simply nodded before speed-walking towards the door, opening it, and then closing it behind her. Ery kept his eye on the door for a few moments before turning away and going to grab a blanket from his supply closet.

'What to do...what to do…' He thought, before letting out an internal scoff. 'Jenoraclipsa. What a stupid name. Does she _really_ think she has me fooled with that? And all that talk about bigotry being wrong...I almost couldn't bring myself to say it. That is what shaped this world, shaped _all _worlds, and it will shape the future. The future that my kind deserves.'

Ery's thoughts then shifted from the future of the _glorious _Septarians and instead dwelled on Meteora's magic usage, mostly on whether she actually had it or not. While he still had his doubts, he had no reason to believe that she was telling the truth about it. There was no evidence other than her own outlandish claims, and he knew that most of what she told him already was a lie. So it made sense that her magic was just that. A lie.

But he still had to take his chances. If she actually had magic and he decided to just attack her out of nowhere, then that would be it. A quick death by instant vaporization would be his best hope at that point, unless, of course, she wasn't very skilled in it. But he still had to be careful. In his experience, the most powerful magic users tended to be the ones that looked weakest. The ones that attempted to hide their true power, making themselves appear as nothing more than small fry. Could this Mariposa be the same way?

'Feh, don't even call her that.' He thought to himself. 'That's definitely not her real name. The hesitation before she told it to me was because she was thinking one up, not because she didn't trust me enough to spit it out. If she wants to keep her name secret, then there has to be a reason. Perhaps she's some kind of ...teenage celebrity?" The idea briefly intrigued Ery, but he shook it off in a second. 'No, that can't be it. She's not that type of person. Her eyes were ones that had seen just as many horrors as I had. Whoever she is, she's seen the worst of the world. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage."

Ery put his hand on his chin as he thought up a plan. 'Okay. Here's what I'll do.' He thought, pacing around. 'She'll stay here for the night and I'll give her some breakfast in the morning, all while keeping up the friendly attitude. After that, I'll ask her to show me some magic, under the pretense that I haven't seen magic that much and it would be cool to see. Nothing much, just a simple spell. If she says no, then that's proof that she's been lying about having magic. I'll strangle her to death right then and there and store her body out in the snow to preserve it. But not before maybe eating one of her arms or legs for my own breakfast. Been a while since I had any real meat after all. And sure, if this is what happens, I'll have wasted my resurrection potions in the process. But hey, at least it'll have been entertaining."

He looked in the direction of the bathroom.

'But if she _does _have magic…then after that breakfast I'll take her out hunting for moose. See if I can get her to use a spell against one. This way I can discern just how skilled she is. If she can use an attack spell against one of those things, then she will be extremely useful. If she can't…same as before. I kill her, eat an arm or something, ect, ect.'

He turned away from the bathroom and grabbed a blanket from his closet before setting it on the floor, making it look as appealing as possible.

'One last thing to consider. If she has magic...and she has attack spells…and she can actually do some _serious _damage with them…then this could be what I'm looking for. After all this time, this might be how it happens.'

He grinned and started biting his claws, the excitement growing to be too much.

'This is how my master gets broken out of prison.'

He giggled to himself. Then chuckled. Then he paused before letting out a full-on laugh, sounding like some kind of cliche supervillain. He did this for a moment before forcing himself to loudly cough, knowing Meteora was in the next room over.

'Careful. Careful.' He thought, calming himself. 'Don't get ahead of yourself. The girl might have magic, but it's either going to take a lot of convincing or one hell of a trick to get her to attack the prison. And even then, she would have to blow it open in one shot. Someone like that would take so much magic that she might die from the effort. Although I suppose that would still be a win. Seth escapes, and I won't have to kill the little freak myself.'

He took one last glance at the bathroom and grinned widely, a single thought echoing throughout his mind.

**Ery's bathroom...a few minutes earlier…**

Speed-walking to the bathroom, Meteora threw its door open and closed it behind her, taking care not to slam it. Finally alone, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked around. It was a fairly typical bathroom. There was a toilet, a sink, and a mirror stacked to the wall. It was fairly clean, considering their location. But it was still rather archaic. The toilet was akin to one might see at a roadside porta-potty, while the sink was some kind of hand-pump thing that Meteora failed to recognize.

She didn't care however. It's not like she had really come in here to use the bathroom anyways. She just needed a moment to think. Think about her next move, somewhere where Ery couldn't see her.

She gripped the side of the sink and took a moment to examine herself in the mirror. It had actually been quite a while since she last saw herself. All the windows and mirrors in Echo creek were shattered to pieces, so it's not like they had gotten a chance there. Almost every other reflective surface they found in the wastes was equally destroyed. Except for one of course. That one...but it had so long ago that Meteora almost couldn't remember it. And she realized that she had changed quite a bit. She could see the damage her ear had sustained now, the pointy part missing and replaced by a simple layer of skin, just like Jenkins told her it would. It didn't look the same. It made her feel hollow.

As for her hair, it was an uncombed, raggy mess. It was full of dandruff and other things that didn't require identification, likely just dust or dirt particles that had gotten stuck in there back out in the wastes. She didn't mind it really though. After only being bathed maybe once or twice in the last decade in the half, her, Jenkins, and Mariposa had all gotten used to the "too long without a shower smell." They were numb to it now. And so was everyone else really. Nobody pointed it out, and nobody cared. It was basically an unspoken rule of the apocalypse.

But her face…

It was hardly the same. The last time she had seen that face, it had been so much different. It was much more innocent and also one that occasionally wished to be a lone-wolf, too see if she could survive by herself. But now it wasn't like that at all. It was the exact opposite. Now she was determined, followed orders, and knew that she was nothing without anyone else backing her up. She needed the people who had brought her to this point. It had just taken her too long to see it.

'I really have changed.' She thought. 'But when did this start? Back at the cliff when I got my butterfly form? In the Underworld when I blew up the tank? When Janna attacked us back at her base? Or even farther back, when Jenkins told us about how the world ended, right after I had killed that lizard. And it hasn't even been that long since then…'

The second this thought finished echoing throughout her mind, the person she saw in the mirror almost seemed to melt away. Meteora almost gasped in shock as she saw herself literally fade out of existence, her colors dulling to a prosaic grey and the features on her face becoming blank and unmoving. For a second she half-expected someone to come bursting through the mirror, but it didn't happen. It kept shifting, and eventually it formed into something solid and recognizable.

Herself.

Meteora tilted her head, momentarily confused as to why her reflection had vanished only to reappear a few seconds later for no apparent reason. But as she leaned in and took a closer look, the differences began to present themselves. The person in the mirror looked almost _exactly _like her...but there were a few things off it. Both her ears were pointy again, the set of clothes she was wearing was much too big, and she looked so much…much…

_Younger._

The word rang in Meteora's mind as she finally realized that she was staring at none other than a younger version of herself. The same one she had seen the last time she looked in a mirror. Yes. There was no doubt about it now. Now that it was once again presented to her, she didn't even have time to comprehend why she was seeing this before all the memories of that event came flying back at her.

And it was quite an event. How long ago had it been? Seven years? Eight years? Maybe even nine? The three of them had found an old delipidated bathroom in the middle of nowhere, seemingly for hikers to use. A wreak sure, but mostly untouched by the bombs. They had gone inside, Meteora and her sister in awe at all the things that were still intact, while Jenkins warned them to not touch anything due to the ungodly amount of filth and disease that had accumulated over the years.

Then they found the mirror.

Or, at least, what was left of it.

It was in a sorry state, with cracks visible all across the surface, making it look like someone had taken a hammer to it. Not to mention the fact that there wasn't much left of the portion that still remained on the broken, burned wall it was attached to. But there was enough left hanging there that they could see themselves clearly. Mariposa was the first to notice, freezing in place as she saw herself for the first time in perhaps her whole life. She held her breath as someone she didn't recognize looked back at her, and took a moment to realize that it was herself. She reached her hand out towards the object before quickly pulling it back, almost like touching it would give her an electric shock.

Jenkins had been the second to notice, walking over and explaining what the object was after seeing Mariposa's slightly terrified expression. She had calmed down after that, and tried to convince Jenkins to take a piece of the mirror with her. He said no of course, fully aware that if he let her she would spend every free second she had staring into it. And probably cut herself in the process.

Then Meteora came over and took a glance. Her reaction was similar to her sisters, confused/terrified while also frozen in place. But unlike Mariposa, she actually moved her hand forward and touched its surface. She could still remember how it felt. Cold, slick, and dirty. One of the oddest sensations she had felt up to that point. Jenkins told her that he was going back outside with Mari, but she didn't even respond. She kept staring, fascinated with her own reflection.

It was so different. She finally realized just how different she looked from her father and sister, and finally understood what Jenkins meant when he said that she was a different species from them.

It made her get a cold, sick feeling in her stomach, and she couldn't bear it for even a second.

So once Jenkins had left, she reared her hand back and smashed her fist into the mirror, shattering it instantly and causing tiny pieces of glass to pierce her knuckles and fall to the floor. Jenkins had come rushing back in no less than three seconds later, ready to defend Meteora from an unseen enemy. But the only thing he found was her standing there, pulling mirror shards out of her hands and staring blankly at the blood that seeped out of the wounds they made.

"Why did you do that?" He asked, wiping his hand across his scalp and breathing a sigh of relief that they weren't under attack.

Meteora looked at him, her eyes full of long-lost innocence. The words she was about to say would haunt Jenkins for weeks afterwards, and Meteora would come to remember it as one of her worst mishaps.

"I don't like how that person looked." She said.

She could easily recall Jenkin's panicked expression. The little girl he had spent a good chunk of his life raising had gotten the first real look at herself, and she hated it. The idea terrified him, and he knew he had to do everything he could to make sure that she didn't try and...change it later on without her knowing what she was doing.

"Why?" He asked her, taking a step forward and putting his hand on her shoulder. "What didn't you like?"

Meteora paused. "They didn't look like you." She squeaked. "Or Mari. They looked...wrong. All wrong." Her eyes darted to the floor as she wrapped her arms around herself, clearly upset. "Bad. Bad like those monsters you protect us from and that we have too-"

"Meteora." He said, kneeling down and grabbing both her shoulders. They were now at the same eye level. "Those monsters...they're not bad. They only make bad choices. There is nothing wrong with the way they look. That didn't cause them to become bad like that."

He then took a deep breath, and Meteora thought he was struggling not to cry.

"And there is… absolutely _nothing _wrong with the way you look either." He said, his voice full of more emotion than she had seen him put out in years. "You're more unique than anyone else on this planet. So don't _ever_ say that you hate your natural appearance. Because it is so, _so _important. It makes you one of a kind."

"But what if I don't want to be like that?" She asked, her shoulders scrunching up. "What if I want to be like you guys…"

Jenkins winced. "Do you…?" He asked, afraid to say the wrong thing.

Meteora buried her face in her hands. "I don't know. I...just want to be normal. Is this why? Is this why all those people we've met have called me a freak when they saw me? Even some of the bad monsters did. Am...am I a freak? Is that what I just saw in that mirror?"

Little Meteora was on the verge of tears, and Jenkins started shaking as he began losing control of the situation. He hadn't prepared for this at _all_. Which was ironic. He had prepared them for so much out here. For almost every situation he could think of. They knew how to survive. They knew how to scrounge for food and water. They knew how to hide, to sneak into places, and most importantly, how to kill. He had prepared them for it all.

But even after all that, one thing had slipped his mind, one little thing that he couldn't remember.

They were still just children.

And he had only taken care of them the best way he could.

And the best way he could meant that there was usually no time to know what they looked like. Every window and mirror they found was shattered. Other reflective surfaces were nigh-impossible to come by. And the water they had access to was a crappy mirror. It wouldn't really be what they looked like. It would just show them all distorted and...wrong.

But apparently Meteora thought she was wrong anyways.

"No." He said sternly. "You're not a freak. You're not a monster either. What did I tell you, that time you asked me what you were?"

Meteora snuffed and wiped her eyes before answering. "You told me that I was something different. Something special that was a gift to the world for even having existed in the first place."

Jenkins nodded his head. "And why did I tell you that? What did I just say?"

Meteora struggled to remember, even if it was just a second ago. "Because-because you also said that I was one of a kind."

"Yes. Yes!" Jenkins exclaimed, shaking her slightly. "Because you are one of a kind. More important than you can imagine."

"More important than Mari?"

"Most definitely, although you shouldn't undermine your sister like that."

"Sorry." She said, a smile now back on her face. "More-more important than _you_?"

Jenkins paused and bit his lip. "...Yes." He said after a moment of hesitation. "Yes, more important than me. And that is because...you could help unite the world. What remains of its people. A perfect example of unity between species."

Meteora giggled. "What's "unity" mean?" She asked.

Jenkins almost chuckled in response. So powerful. So deadly. Yet still so young. "It's you." He said, putting his hand on her hair and ruffling it gently, almost like a real parent would. "You're unity. Whenever someone asks you the meaning of the word, you just point at yourself."

"Really?" Meteora asked enthusiastically. "Then when we go back outside, I'm going to do that to Mari! I'm going to ask her if she knows what unity means, and then I'm going to do what you said!"

"And that...is a perfect start." Jenkins said.

Meteora nodded, and then leaned in and hugged him without warning.

"Thanks dad." She said, making Jenkins heart skip a beat out of shock. "I'll make sure to always appreciate the person I saw in that mirror from now on."

Jenkins paused and then hugged her back gently. "Good." He breathed. "Don't ever forget that. Because…because…"

"Because…?" Meteora asked expectantly.

"Nothing." Jenkins said, shuddering. "Just don't forget it. Don't..._ever_...forget it Meteora."

"Alright." Meteora said, unaware of the seriousness in his voice. She kept him in the hug for a few more seconds before grinning widely. "Hey...can you carry me back outside? My legs are kind of tired."

"Of course." Jenkins said, lifting her off the ground and into his arms. "Then we can fix your hand up, and you can do the "unity" thing on your sister."

"Can't wait." Meteora said, and Jenkins walked out of the building, Meteora happily slung slightly over his shoulders.

Dad.

That word would mean more than any other word she had said to him. And years later, it still did.

And the thing he hated doing most that day was telling her later on to not call him it again, because if she did, he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to correct her on who her true parents were.

* * *

"Meteora! Meteora! Where the hell are you?!"

"That's not going to work Jenkins. If she could hear us, don't you think she would have responded by now?"

"If she's not here, then where is she?!"

"..."

"Right. Sorry. Didn't mean to yell at you like that. It's just...Meteora's vanished, while she was in this stupid forest, which is the same forest that contains the portal to the Underworld at war, all while Janna is still trying to kill us. So please forgive me if I'm a little worried for her."

"I haven't forgotten about any of that stuff, trust me."

"Well, I wanna make sure that Meteora hasn't."

It had been too long.

Five hours to be exact. Five hours since that flash of golden light. Five hours since they left what remained of the Avarius residence. And five hours since Meteora had gone missing without a trace.

And while Mariposa was confident that she was fine, Jenkins on the other hand was freaking out.

"I seriously doubt she would have forgotten about something as important as that." Mariposa said, getting closer and closer to facepalming.

"Are you sure?" Jenkins asked, totally unconvinced. "With what just went down at that house, you really don't think that that portal might have slipped her mind? It almost slipped _my _mind. There's so much to remember, and so much to that I've already forgotten."

Mariposa frowned. While she thought Jenkins was being slightly hysterical, she had to admit that he made a good point. Five hours was an awfully long time in a place like this, especially if you were spending it by yourself.

'But she's not by herself.' She thought. 'She has that Voice. I'm pretty sure that whatever that thing just told her to run off somewhere to practice a new spell. Meteora told me that's basically all they do. Practice spells. Improve her magic. All that.'

Mariposa's personal opinion on this "Voice" was complicated, to say the least. Unsurprisingly, she didn't trust it. She had a hard time trusting people until she met them in person. Which obviously wasn't happening anytime soon with something that wasn't even tangible. And also might actually be impossible to communicate with. Jenkins had mentioned to her at some point that she would hate talking to people on the internet.

Whatever that meant…

But on the other hand, she couldn't ignore all the good it had done for them. First and foremost, it had taught Meteora magic, which had helped them with the battle at the Lucitors castle, (even if she hadn't been there to witness the end of it) escaping from Janna and her priest convoy, and finally killing those demons like child's play. Without the Voice, Meteora would have never learned magic and they would have almost certainly died in each of those scenarios.

_And _it had given them their final destinations and goal, courtesy of Meteora talking to her mother and learning their whereabouts. That was maybe the most useful thing of all. After all these years, they would finally be reunited. All of them except…

except…of course...

...her parents.

Mariposa clenched her fist as she remembered what Meteora had said back in the truck, about how her parents, Rafael and Angie, were still missing. And Mariposa knew that they were probably dead. Nobody survived in the wastes for long without the proper experience. And something told Mariposa that that was something her parents were lacking in.

So it was possible that they were gone for good. Just like all her hopes and dreams. The face she made when she first heard the news could be best compared to Katrina's when she told her about how the world above was in no real condition to be reinhabited on a greater scale.

So she made sure to turn away from them as soon as the words had left her sisters mouth. She didn't want them to see her make a face like that. It would have made them worry too much about her. And with Meteora and the Underworld war to take care of, Mari knew that they had enough things to worry about. She couldn't be helped at a time like this.

So she shoved it all deep down as far as she could and forgot about it. But it forced its way to the surface occasionally.

And it hurt everytime.

"Are you okay?" A sudden voice from behind her said, filled to the brim with concern. The tone was so strong that it snapped Mariposa out of her thoughts instantly and caused her to instinctively glance to her left, where Jenkins was standing there, looking at her like she had been shot.

"Yeah." She said unconvincingly, wondering why he was so worried. "I'm fine. Why? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, but you're crying." Jenkins said. "You are standing, and then you started tearing up for no reason."

Mariposa stared at him in confusion for a few seconds, before realizing that something was blurring her vision. She rubbed her eyes and found that Jenkins was right. She had been crying, and judging by the numerous small stains in the dirt believe her, it had been going on for quite awhile.

'Where the hell did that come from…' She thought. 'Did thinking about my parents like that really make me start doing that without even noticing? Is it affecting me that much inside?'

"Well?" Jenkins asked, sounding rather impatient now. "Are you okay, or is there something you want to talk about?"

"Huh? Oh, um…I have no idea what that was about." Mariposa said, fully aware knowing that her thoughts were something that could wait for later. "I think something got in my eye."

"Both of them?"

"Yeeesssss…?" Mariposa claimed, sounding like she was entirely unsure of the answer. She really needed to work on lying.

Jenkins, of course, instantly recognized that she wasn't telling the truth. And while he would have continued further in any normal situation, Meteora's disappearance took precedence. That and the fact that whatever made her weep like that was likely none of his business.

For now at least. Out here, everything became his business eventually.

"Alright fine." He said. "But now come help me look for Meteora again. I'm sure there's at least one or two spots that we missed. I'm heading over to the mayor's office to check there, and if you're not coming, then go back to the Avarius's. Don't want you to go missing as well."

"...I think I'll come with you." Mariposa said. There was no way she wanted to go back to that old creepy collapsable house already. And besides, considering the immortality that the Avarius's were cursed with, the odds were that they didn't have any food or water.

Speaking of which…

"Wait." She said, making Jenkins pause right before he took off. "Can we actually go back to the packs and get something to eat first? It's been a while, and I'm honestly starving."

Although Jenkins was reluctant to do so, the look in Mariposa's eye told him that she probably wouldn't take no for an answer. So it wouldn't end well no matter what way he tried to spin his reasoning behind it.

"Sure." He said. "But after that…"

"I get the idea. We'll find her." Mariposa groaned, and the two of them turned tail and walked back towards their mini-camp, just another random spot in the middle of the forest.

* * *

The flashback ended.

Meteora opened her eyes.

And now she was looking back at the second mirror, this one intact and still showing her younger, better self.

Her breathing grew faster.

Her throat went dry.

And then she finally started sobbing. She let it all out and fell to the floor for the third time, crying uncontrollably after her heartbreaking vision of a better time that had long since vanished. As each minor event came back to her, another tear left her eyes. The finding of the mirror. The way she hated how she looked. Jenkins going full parent-mode, grabbing her shoulders and calming her down as best he could. Her calling him "dad". And then later that day, when he requested that she never do it again. It made her sad. It almost made her cry. But she knew that he had to have a good reason for it.

So she never did it on purpose again.

And sometimes she regretted it. Sometimes she didn't. She had seen Jenkins in his full-on parent mode, taking care of them and comforting them to the best of his ability. Even though he had told them numerous times that he would make a terrible father if he had any children of his own, Meteora and Mari doubted that to the extreme. He could be a caring person. It was just that the world that surrounded them prevented him from doing so most of the time.

But most of those moments had been back then. Now that they had all grown older, Jenkins started doing it less and less as the two of them had matured and became typical teenagers. She remembered back at the Lucitor castle, when Jenkins had been forced to carry her unconscious body away from the two demons that threatened to kill them. She could still recall the irritation in her voice, telling Jenkins to put her down even though they were fleeing for their lives.

Maybe she just didn't want to be treated like a little kid anymore. Maybe she just didn't want to be reminded of her old, slightly-innocent self, the same little girl who had actually _requested _to be carried on numerous occasions, something that her fathe-that _Jenkins _had rarely said no to.

'He was different back then too.' She thought. 'He actually took care of us. Like _really _took care of us. Comforted us when we were scared of the dark like a bunch of children, helped us through any problems we had and never complained when we got something wrong, and refused to let us fight anybody, always telling us to stay back and to take care of each other in case he didn't make it.'

As this thought left Meteora's mind, she quickly curled into a ball, tightly wrapping her tail around her ankles while hugging her knees as close to her chest as she could. Tears still fell from eyes onto the floor below, although she didn't bother wiping them away. She didn't want to. Even if crying was a waste of water.

"But now he doesn't do that kind of stuff." She sobbed, unable to continue confining her feelings to mere thoughts. "He still takes care of us. Still protects us from danger. But he doesn't stop us from leaping in to help as much. He doesn't comfort us because there's hardly anything that scares us anymore. And...worst of all…he never acts like a real parent. He never hugs us anymore. He never does that hair ruffling thing he always did to us. And...he...he…"

Meteora couldn't go on. It was too hard. Even if she knew that him doing any of those things now would feel weird, she wondered if they could ever get that back. Although not it was a question of whether this was just in the moment, or if she had secretly wished for something like this all along.

"I just want my parents...or him to really act like one..." She whimpered. "I don't wanna have any more flashbacks, any more visions, any more..."

She stood up and looked at her younger self in the mirror.

"Any more of you!" She exclaimed. The childish reflection only responded by blinking at her, as if it didn't understand what she was saying.

"Why were you so lucky?!" She yelled at the thing. "Why did you get to enjoy all those moments, but still not know how important they were? Why didn't you know how much you would miss them later on?"

The reflection blinked again.

"RRRGH...say something." Meteora growled. "SAY SOMETHING!"

She reared her hand back and tightened it into a fist, preparing to shatter the figure before her into a million pieces, just like she did back then. She thrust her arm forward in rage, clenching her teeth so hard together that they almost cracked from the pressure.

But then she stopped. A single centimeter from the surface of the mirror, she stopped.

Because the thing before her finally had something to say.

"Look at you." It said, and she gasped instinctively, her arm freezing in place. And like it's appearance, the voice was one she hadn't heard in a very long time.

"Look at you." It repeated. "What are you doing?"

"I-I-I don't know...what you mean." Meteora answered, almost too shocked to speak as she let her arm fall back to her side. "What are you-"

"Why are you so full of anger and hatred?" The reflection asked. "Where did all this come from?"

Meteora didn't respond. She didn't know what to say. She had been begging for it to talk to her before, but now that it finally was, she wondered if this was what she wanted, or if it was what _it _wanted.

"What happened to you?" It asked, looking like it was ready to cry. The reflection raised it's hand to it's chest and clutched their shirt about where it's heart would be. "What happened to _me_?"

"..."

"Oh, look at this." The reflection sobbed. "Now _you _have nothing to say. But I'm going to keep asking. What happened to me Meteora? What happened to me _me_?"

"I...you…" Meteora stuttered, her voice stuck in her throat. She didn't even know what to say here, and for some reason, she was terrified. But reason fought its way to the surface. The odds were that this reflection wasn't even _real_. Nothing but an illusion or hallucination. 'Yes. That _has _to be it.' She thought desperately. 'I'm simply imagining or dreaming all this, nothing else.'

But what happened next sure _felt _real. Unfortunately, the reflection seemed to have read her mind, and in response it reached _out _of the mirror, grabbed her by the neck and yanked her forward, slamming her against its cold surface. Someone, it didn't break despite the insane force being thrown against it. Meteora tried to struggle and get out of it's grip, but whatever this thing was wasn't about to let her escape anytime soon. She felt like she was being choked by a person with skin made out of metal. It was nigh impossible to fight back.

But it's not like she could just surrender to this thing. She wasn't about to give in to this younger and fake version of herself. Even if it felt like it could snap her neck at any time it pleased.

"Let me go!" She tried to yell, although it came out as nothing more than a whimper. The reflection responded by tightening its grip, and Meteora could feel her windpipe getting dangerously close to being crushed entirely. She had to say the right thing next, or it might be the end of her. "Look." She said. "I don't know what I did to you. Whatever it is, I'm sorry and-"

"You turned me into you!" The reflection screeched. "You turned me into the person whose life I have in my hands! This...thing that I shouldn't have become!"

"What are you talking about? I was complaining about Jenkins a second ago! Why am _I _bad?" Meteora asked. "I-you-_we _have magic now! We can do so much more now than back then! We can save everyone! We have to save this planet, and everyone on it! Killing me will only stop that from ever happening! Don't you understand that?"

"What _I _understand is that if you continue on your current path, then there won't be a planet to save. You are unknowing veering towards your own downfall, and when that happens, and when _it _takes control, there's going to be nothing left."

"It?" Meteora said, wondering what his younger self was going on about. "Who is it?"

"You seriously don't know? You can't even figure it out yourself?!" The reflection screeched. "That's it. If you don't know who I'm talking about already, then you don't deserve to know! You just deserve to be put down like the ignorant, worthless piece of trash you are!"

The reflection's fingers clenched up, and Meteora quickly lost her much-needed ability to breath. As her face turned blue and her vision went dark, she used up all her strength to choke out, "You know, I already d-died once. If you w-were going to kill me anyways, you should let have me stay dead back then!"

As she said this, her vision faded away entirely. Her chest felt like it was going to explode from her lungs gasping for air, and just like the first time, an odd dreamlike sensation quickly came over her, something she now knew to be death arriving to claim her soul. She shut her eyes and felt her head drop, quickly understanding the cruel truth that it was over for her. Again.

And a single pitiful thought rang through her mind, begging for help from people who were clueless of the peril she was in.

'Can't...failed…them…Jen...Mari...mom…...help…...m-'

Before she could finish this however, colors and spots danced in front of her newly-regained vision, and she gasped out as sweet oxygen found its way past her throat and put life back in her body. She started breathing so fast that it almost sounded like someone hyperventilating, and then she felt the fingers around her neck let go of her.

She groaned and fell to the floor, confused as to why the reflection had spared her just as much she was grateful to still be alive. She almost couldn't believe her accursed luck. Something told her that if she had died again, then whatever Ery had used to bring her back the first time wouldn't work again.

"Get up." A faint voice called out, which she recognized instantly. "Get up now."

"Give...me...a minute." Meteora begged, wheezing and kneeling on all fours.

"Fine. One minute." The reflection said. "But after that, I'm grabbing you again and forcing you up myself."

Meteora didn't complain. One minute was all she needed. She threw her back up and kneeled on the cold floor, rubbing her neck and feeling the hand prints that the reflection had left on it. It hurt just to touch them. She hoped that her vocal cords hadn't been permanently damaged from all that choking. A disfigured voice was the last thing she needed right now, and then she would have to explain it to Ery, who likely wouldn't elieve that the mirror had attacked her.

"One minute is up." The reflection said. "Now-"

"Yeah yeah…" Meteora moaned, knowing that she had to get up or else the reflection would probably try to kill her again. She used the sink as leverage and got to her feet, struggling all the way. Once she had finally made it up, she glared intensely at the reflection, now more angry for what it had done to her then scared.

"What...did you do that for?" She asked, refusing to back down any longer.

"Do you mean almost killing you or sparing you?"

"B-both."

It glowered at her briefly and then spoke, it's voice as cold as ice. "I only spared you because what you said was true. If I wanted you to die, I should have just let it happen back then. Killing you again wouldn't serve any purpose. And maybe a small part of believe that I was acting rashly."

"You think?" Meteora growled. "That all happened way too fast. You went from sad to angry in a second, and then-"

"I don't care. Now, as for nearly killing you, I did it because I was angry." The reflection said, stating the obvious. "For what you said. For what you did. For what you're going to do."

"Then what _am _I going to do?"

"You're going to join the wrong side." The reflection replied, narrowing its eyes at her. "You're going to give in to power. And you're going to hurt the people around you."

"What? I would never hurt Mari or Jenkins!" Meteora claimed. "What makes you think-"

"Shut up and listen or I'll choke the life out of you again!" The reflection hissed, and Meteora instantly shut her mouth. She still didn't understand why this thing had almost killed her, and she was starting to feel that it was never going to give her a clear answer.

"Now, this is what I'm going to tell you." It said. "Remember it. Soon enough you'll have to make a choice. Whether to give in to the strength within you that lies dormant or to go back to what you lost just a day ago. If you don't make the right choice, then the future you wished for in this timeline will never come to pass."

This only confused Meteora further. Was this thing talking about her wish to make sure Seth didn't escape the prison? Therefore making this world better than her own?

"Why-" She started, before being cut off.

"Goodbye." The reflection said, turning away from her and starting to walk away.

"Hey. Hey!" Meteora yelled. "Hold on. You're telling me that you came here, stared at me blankly for like a half hour, started crying and asking me questions, nearly _killed _me, gave me some cryptic warnings, and now you're just going to leave?!"

"Yes." The reflection. "And it is not your place to ask me why I do things the way I do. It is what I do to everyone."

Meteora's eyes widened. "You-you're not my reflection brought to life, are you?" She asked, making an assumption rather quickly. "Or some past version of myself. You're something else all together, right? You've just been f-faking it when you asked me what happened to us."

The reflection didn't say anything to this. It simply sighed, walked away, and vanished. The mirror faded to black and then faded back to normal, and once again she was looking at her plain, old self.

"...What the hell just happened?" She asked herself. "Who...why…" She groaned. It didn't matter. Well, it did, but not right now. She already had enough on her plate. The full buffet, just like she had mentioned to the Voice earlier.

So it was time to cut away a portion.

It was time for her to figure out what to do with Ery.

**End chapter 33**

**A/N: So quite a bit happened. We got a look at a younger version of Meteora and parent-Jenkins, Ery is evil and scheming stuff for Seth, and Meteora's reflection just tried to murder her. Two deaths in one day. She really can't catch a break. Don't worry though. No more fake deaths for her. That ship has sailed away with this chapter. **

**Although I personally feel that the first half of this chapter is stronger than the second.**

**And the reflection thing is what she assumed, not a reflection, and not her in anyway. Something else entirely. I will likely come back to that thing, but not for a while. Some setting the stage for stuff in the future, if you will.**

**I will admit that that thing is a little psychotic and quick to the trigger. It's more of "break everything and ask questions later" kind of being. It's also a total hypocrite.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	34. Chapter 34: Keeping a close eye

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 34**

**Keeping a close eye**

The plan was simple.

All it required was for Meteora to somehow trick Ery into showing his true self, remember that her name was currently "Mariposa" the entire time, escape, survive out in the cold and freezing Canadian wilderness, channel up her magic to a good enough level that will enable her to get back to her own time without any more of the shenanigans that caused this whole mess in the first place, and make sure to forget about the little detail that Seth's prison was only a few hours walk away, something that she believed was hardly a coincidence, especially considering that he was about to break out "very soon" as the Voice had said.

…

Okay, sure, so maybe it wasn't _that _simple. But since Meteora couldn't think of a better plan on her own, it would have to do. The first part would obviously be the hardest. Although she has started to warm up to Ery thanks to his overly friendly nature and disposition, something that almost made her feel safe, she wasn't a fool. Trusting him completely and putting her life in his hands could mean dying for a _third _time, an experience that she was beginning to grow tired of.

Ery was good. She could admit this. He played his part of a innocent, caring, and helpful lizard very well.

But it was still just that. A part. A ruse. Meteora could easily see which parts of his story were true and which weren't. Did he enjoy her company? Was he happy that someone in need was saved due to him? No. Definitely not. Nobody with a personality like that, a person who loves to help and wishes to erase all the hatred and bigotry from the world would live out here. In a wasteland of ice and snow. No, they'd be back in Earthni, trying to convince everyone else that all three species should get along and love each other. Like she was supposed to.

But instead, he was in the middle of nowhere, living in a hut, and doing squat for a cause that he claimed he devoted his life towards. Meteora took this as an immediate red flag. Because frankly, doing that only made things worse for his kind. He had told her that everyone misunderstood lizards. That they were actually "quite nice" if people gave them a chance. But because he made his home in a place where nobody would ever want to live (apart from him, apparently), anyone that saw him would assume that he was up to no good. Why hide out if you have nothing _to _hide?

So, it made sense for Meteora to be slightly (very) suspicious of him. Just as he was no doubt suspicious of her. Like seriously? Jenoraclipsa? She cursed herself again and again for calling her supposed "homeland" that ridiculous name. The second she said it, Ery almost certainly knew it was all a lie, and ever since then she had been digging her own grave.

But she still had to try. She couldn't let herself give it all up now. If Ery did in fact plan to murder her or betray her or do any number of things that made Meteora's skin crawl, then she had to get out and/or kill him as soon as possible. But of course…there was always another side to this. If he was actually none of those things, and she was wrong in thinking that he was evil and all that because he was just being _nice, _then she would look like the villain here.

So the main problem would be to discern if the lizard was truly a killer or not. She would have to listen as carefully as possible to his words and his tone for any sign that something was off with them. Was it all lies? Did they possibly hint at a possible secondary meaning, one that was much more malicious than what was coming out of his mouth?

If so, then it would have to be taken into account. Every single bit of it. And not just his words. She would have to watch his actions. How he moved. When he moved. Why he moved. She had to keep him in her sights at all times, lest she make the dark mistake of turning her back to him and giving him a clean shot and literally stabbing her in the back. The best she could hope for at _that _point was a quick death, although a part of her knew that if Ery was the jerk she thought him to be, he wouldn't grant her the gift of a painless end.

But if it really came to it, she had to make sure she could defend herself. Ery _had _to have weapons of some sort. His claws alone wouldn't do. (Hopefully.) She knew this because ever since Ery had told her that they were in Canada, the only two bits of knowledge she knew about the country came to mind. That it was up north and thus colder than most places she had been to, and that it had moose.

The moose part was particularly important. One time, when Jenkins was telling them random facts about the (now defunct) countries of the world, he made sure to mention moose when he got to Canada, and said something along the lines of "Moose are nasty fuckers you two. You ever see a moose, you get the hell out of there. I don't care if you're armed or not." That particular conversation had been a fun one. Of course, it's not like it had ever come into play back then, as any wild animal was far and few between in the wastes. And besides, the three of them usually killed and ate any they came across, regardless of how big or vicious it was. Food supplies were always low back then, so it's not like running away was an option.

But that was besides the point. What was important was that if there were any moose around, the Ery would know that they were quote in quote "nasty fuckers", and that he had to have something sharp or otherwise equally deadly to protect himself with.

So as silly as all of it seemed, Meteora's hunch on Ery having weapons was literally thanks to her knowledge about a wild animal and a simple hunch. Not that she was complaining. Stranger things had happened. Like suddenly being warped to the past and dying for example. That had been quite the odd experience.

Now that she was sure of her little weapon theory, she had to find out where he kept them. It was entirely possible that he would just _tell _her if she asked, given how nice he was being and how much he wanted her to trust him. So that was one option. But if she did ask and he didn't tell her, then he would know she was looking for a way to defend herself, possibly from _him. _

And once that happened, everything would fall apart.

If, of course, he was evil. All of it was still riding on that. And by this point, she kind of _hoped _that he was evil, or else all planning would have been for nothing. But she made sure to pinch herself for that one.

But until it was confirmed, she would have to be suspicious of him. If he made a move, then she would react accordingly. Either flee or blast him with a spell. (In the unlikely event that she had the energy too.) The second option was the one she definitely favored more, but also the one that would be much more difficult to pull off. At this point, after all the lessons and spells, she knew exactly how much magic she had in...reverse, or whatever it was called. And right now, those reserves were dangerously empty. She might have enough for that light spell, but that was as far as it went. For some reason, her magic was recharging at a much slower rate than it usually did.

This posed another question however. Earlier, The Voice has shown great confusion and concern as to why she hadn't died from simply being here for more than a few seconds, as staying in a time that wasn't your own meant that magic was constantly sapped from one's body. Stay there for too long, and death followed soon after. Like most things that involve magic.

Now, Meteora already knew all of this. The Voice has made sure she remembered it before telling her how to use the spell. But for whatever reason, it hadn't come true. At least, not entirely. While she hadn't died (at least not from losing too much magic), it was possible that the spell was still affecting her. The thought that her being there was causing her abilities to recharge much more slowly was not a comforting thought. That meant that she could only use a spell as a last resort. And even then she would have to be careful.

'Alright.' She thought. 'Then it's settled. I watch him as carefully as I can. If I suspect something's up, or if he attacks me outright, then I either run away or fight back, depending on what I'm capable of at the moment. If I run, I have to go back out in the cold. If I fight, then it's equally as deadly. But…' She took a deep breath and exhaled, knowing she had no other choice. 'It's all I can do for now.'

Once that was done, she shook her head, changed her expression to one that was as innocent as possible, and quickly left the bathroom, knowing that Ery was probably already suspicious with how long she was taking. Hopefully he hadn't heard her being choked by her weird mirror clone or the various sobbing noises she had made. One would be embarrassing, and the other would raise more questions than she had answers for.

Thankfully, he didn't make a comment or even look her way at first. Rather, he was over in a corner of his hut, setting up a makeshift bed on the ground. It actually looked quite nice, all things considered. Sure, the pillow looked like it had been thrown in a dumpster and then washed with a bar of soap that had also been found in said dumpster, but still comfortable enough to sleep on.

Not that she was ever one for comfort. Odds were that the second she laid down on that bed, it once again wouldn't "feel right" and she would roll onto the floor and sleep there. It seemed to be a bit of a habit. First at Janna's base, then at Lucitor castle, and now probably here as well.

She hoped that someday she would get used to and enjoy the feeling of "real beds"...

Hearing her approach, Ery turned around and flashed her a comforting and non-threatening smile, something that made Meteora feel uncomfortable _and _relaxed at the same time.

"Nice to see you." He said. "I finished making that bed for you. Do you like it, or should I start over?"

"It looks great." Meteora replied quickly. "Thank you."

"Ah, no problem. It's the least I can do." Ery said. "And if I'm being quite honest, I'm going to turn in soon myself. I have something important that I need to wake up nice and early for. Do you need anything else from me?"

Meteora winced, but tried to hide it from Ery. That was it then. She had no choice but to spend the night in this place. She kind of already suspected that that's how it was going to turn out, but that still didn't mean she was okay with it.

"No." She said. "I think I'm okay for now. And again...thanks for all you've done for me. Really. I mean, I don't think I deserve all this."

"Nonsense Mariposa." Ery chuckled. "What kind of person would I be if I left you out there for the wolves to find and drag away? An absolute monster, that's what." He said, answering his own question before she could respond. "Now you should get some rest. But...I know you might not trust me completely yet, so if you want, I have a safe room that can only be locked from the inside. If you really want to, you can stay there."

There was a brief silence between the two of them, during which many things happened, all on the non-physical plain.

'Shit. What is he doing?' Meteora thought, panicking internally. 'What do I do now? I mean, obviously, I should take the room, but if I do that, then he might think that _I _think he's going to murder me. And if he really is, then he might do it the second I say "yes." No point in keeping me around once I start to catch on.'

Ery, meanwhile, was thinking hard as well, his own mind keenly reflecting Meteora's on whether or not she would take up his offer.

'Well girl?' He thought. 'What did you plan to do? How much do you know? Do you suspect me of any evil deeds I plan to perform? The look on your face, although well hidden, certainly says so. Let us hope that you don't try anything, for your sake.'

'But then again, what if he had other things planned for me?' Meteora thought. 'If anything he said wasn't a lie, I'm betting it was the part about how magic users were rare and that it was amazing that I could cast spells. Does he somehow plan to harness that magic for himself? He would gain a lot more out of that than slaughtering me.'

'I can see it in the way you walk, I can see it the way you move.' Ery thought. 'You're still too weak to try anything. If anything you said was the truth, it was the part about magic. I could tell. But there is no way you can cast a spell right now. Not in your present state…'

'Or does he already have magic?' Meteora pondered, shifting where she stood. 'He did bring me back to life. I imagine that takes some pretty powerful spells to accomplish, considering you're literally bringing a soul back from the afterlife or whatever and forcing it back in a body. Although, I wonder…"

'If you try to cast a spell now, you could die.' Ery thought, a sadistic grin on his face, spreading from ear to ear. 'I know all the rules of magic. I know everything there is to know, even if I can't cast anything myself and have to rely on potions. But one day, I will gain that power, even if it takes a thousand lifetimes. Of course, that still doesn't answer the question…'

'...Where did I really go when that happened?' Meteora thought, an expression of pure concentration now adorning her face. 'Was that really the afterlife? If it was, that's a pretty big disappointment, considering that all I saw was darkness. And if the feeling of me being picked up and having stuff poured on me really was Ery carrying me back to his hut and then bringing me back to life, why did I only feel that, and not the cold around me? Shouldn't I have felt everything?'

'...About who you were talking too.' Ery thought, the grin on his face now gone and replaced with a look that mirrored Meteora's. 'I have excellent hearing you know girl. I heard it all. I heard your whispers. Stuff about magic. Stuff about someone named Jenkins. Which hopefully isn't the same Jenkins that I'm thinking about. But even if it is him, that human will get his due. I'll make sure that Seth himself kills him for what he's done to the remaining Septarians…'

'Purgatory? Heaven? The Underworld?' Meteora thought, sifting through her options. 'None of those? Agh! It had to be somewhere! Now...now...oh forget it. You know that's not important. You can ask the Voice later because it'll probably know anyways. For now, focus on Ery like you planned. Don't take the room, if it even exists. Sleep here in order to make him trust you. As for the question about the weapons, only ask once you're sure he doesn't think you have any ulterior motives. Because right now…'

They looked each other in the eye, almost as if they knew what the other was thinking. But neither noticed. They were still stuck in their own head, almost completely oblivious to the world around them.

'The only thing I can do…'

'Is to trick him…'

'Deceive her…'

'And make sure…'

'That I never…

'Ever…'

'...let them out of my sight.' Both of them thought at the same time, making a moment of peculiar symmetry, although no one knew it. Once this was done and they came back to the real world, they realized they were now staring at each other aggressively, like two people in a street brawl.

"..."

"..."

The awkward silence was broken by Meteora speaking up, the tension between them so heavy it was like they had just pulled a gun on each other.

"I'm going to go to bed." She said, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible. "And sorry if I didn't say anything for a while. I was caught up in my own thoughts."

"Not to worry." Ery said. "I was as well. Are you sure you're comfortable staying here?"

"Yeah." Meteora lied. "After all you've done for me, I think I trust you enough to sleep here for the night."

"Hm. Well, that's good." Ery said. "That was my intention from the beginning. I just want you to trust me and see that I will do anything I can to help you. Tomorrow, we'll discuss a few things that I think need to be talked about. Mainly a bit more about how you got here, and how you think you could get back." He stretched himself out. "So, for the final time, goodnight."

He then turned his back to Meteora, and she did the same, the two of them literally breaking the promises they had made to themselves after only a few seconds ago. They once again both thought similar things as they looked away from each other, as if their minds were one and the same.

'I'll be keeping my eye on you the whole night girl…'

'Forget going to bed. Whatever room he enters, keep watch on it, and don't fall asleep no matter what happens.'

Ery then went into his room, a simple, small dwelling with a bed and a few personal objects. He closed the door, huffed, and walked over to a hole he had made in the wall, but not before grabbing a nearby stool made out of tree bark. He sat down on it and looked through the hole, where he could see Meteora settling down in her makeshift bed. Said hole was so small that no one could possibly see it from the other side if it wasn't pointed out to them, so there was no way Meteora could spot it. He had made it a few years ago for situations just like this one, in case he needed to spy on any "guests" to make sure that they didn't try anything. And sure, this Mariposa was technically the first guest he ever had, but still, the hole had paid off in the end, and that was what mattered.

But he would have to sacrifice the dreams he had tonight, the ones he had _every _night, the ones where the world was ruled by Septarians. But it would be worth it. All of it worth it, just for this.

For the chance to grab hold of the magic that courses through her.

Or just a meal, depending on whether she was still lying or not. Either way, win-win.

'So worth it…and I can't wait to see how this goes. I wonder how much my little emotion potion will affect her…' He thought, as Meteora finally got into the bed he made for her and pulled the blankets over herself.

But she had no plans on falling asleep. She kept her eyes wide open and didn't take them off Ery's door. She knew he was probably watching her. In one way or another. So she had to do the same. It was almost like she could _feel _Ery's single, beady eye staring at her through the hole in the wall, even if she wasn't directly aware of it. But she still felt it. She knew it was watching her, and it knew she knew, and she knew it knew she knew.

And all of this somehow went back to the eye. Unmoving. Unblinking. Although that was likely just because he was a lizard.

'What are you thinking now…' She thought. 'If you're evil, you're thinking that I know exactly what you have planned for me, like I'm some sort of psychic. But if you're not, you understand. You understand the fact that I might not trust you completely. But now...now that I sense you looking at me...spying on me like this...I don't think you have any good intentions in mind Ery.'

She fought back the urge to sleep, wishing that the Voice was here to keep her awake with it's constant rambling. Then it would be impossible for her to fall asleep. Although that would require devoting her complete attention to the Voice for who knows how many hours. And then she might just pass out because of pure boredom.

Boredom…

'No.' She thought, pinching herself underneath the covers. 'Don't let your eyes feel heavy. Do anything you can to stay awake. Bite your tongue. Start shaking like you're having a bad dream. Hell, rake your claws against your arms and legs if you have too! But don't fall asleep! Then Ery wins! You have to make sure he doesn't do anything in the middle of the night. Even if you feel that he's taken his eye off you, you have to keep watching. He might not murder me, but he may try something else. Lock me up somewhere. Attach me to a device that could take my magic away. Anything is a possibility.'

Like a switch had been flipped, Meteora started swearing furiously under his breath, using words that would make even Jenkins feel uncomfortable. She quieted down to a soft whisper a moment later, and only slightly cooled her vocabulary.

"Where is that fucking Voice when I need it?!" She cursed, making sure to keep her own voice as low as possible. "What were you even doing? Fixing or checking something? How long does that even take? Did it not occur to you that I might die in the time it took for you to do that? Hurry the fuck up and start talking you insufferable prick!"

When I one answered, she pulled the blankets up to her nose and tensed her shoulders up.

"Shit shit shit…" She muttered, letting out a sigh. "Everything sucks so bad. Jenkins and Mariposa probably think I'm either dead or ran away, I have no idea of when I can get back to the present, if I ever have the energy to do so at all, and now I'm in the middle of nowhere, in the hut of a person who's _still looking at me through unknown means, _and who I'm also at the complete mercy of!"

As she started listing all the reasons why her life was currently at a low point, she found it harder and harder to keep quiet, getting to the point where she was almost using her normal voice.

"Not to mention the fact that I still have a war to win in the Underworld, and that everyone at castle Lucitor might already be dead! It's been so long! Drosid has no doubt already reduced it to a pile of rubble. Everyone there would easily fall to his army, small as it is. And level five help us if he has more weapons from the surface and that soldier Dave interrogated had somehow lied. Then he could blast us with it the second we move that boulder and step in through the portal. The end, we lose, he wins, everyone dies."

She sighed again, although it came out as more of a grumble. "And what's more...the problems just keep adding up." She said, her claws digging into her arms. "Let's see. What else have I not listed off? Oh yes, my _fucking reflection _trying to kill me out of nowhere! Like come on! What did I ever do to you? You sure did a shit job at explaining that little bit of information, didn't you? Why don't you-"

"Could you please quiet down?" Ery's voice said from the other room. "Sorry, but I'm trying to sleep, and you're being kind of loud…"

"S-Sorry!" Meteora blurted out, before her expression changed to one of pure fear. 'Fuck.' She thought. 'Fuckfuckfuck! How much of that did he hear? All of it? The last part? When did I stop whispering? When I mentioned the Underworld part? Or was it during the reflection rant? When? When? When?!'

Meteora then started whining like a scared puppy, knowing just how bad it might be if Ery heard all of that. He wouldn't know everything. But it would be enough. If he heard what she said about the Underworld war, then it would be plainly obvious that she was much more important than what she initially told him.

However, it _was_ possible that these events would confuse him more than intrigue him. After all, at no point did she mention that she was from the future. If he had overheard her speaking about a war, then he would assume that it was happening right now, instead of fifteen years later. So if he killed her and left to go do...whatever with the Underworld war, the fact that there wasn't one yet would greatly confound him.

Not like that would help her corpse in any way, but still, it was something to think about. Something to distract her with so she didn't fall asleep. And by now, that was becoming harder and harder to do. As uncomfortable as the makeshift bed was (she now assumed that she would never be able to sleep properly in a "real bed" for the rest of her days), her eyelids felt like they had a mind of their own. And that mind decided that they are going to close like a pair of garage doors.

'Stay awake. Stay the fuck awake!' She thought/cursed. 'Ery...he is still watching you. Always watching. You have to do the same. You can't let him win. This is what he wants after all. For you to drop your guard...to think that this place is safe...and even if you never do any of those things because you're not stupid enough to fall for his charade, he might think you have. And then, he'll make his move and go in for the kill. I'm ninety percent sure that Ery wants to murder me now. Why the hell else would he be spying on me? Particularly right after he said that he was trying to sleep!'

Meteora shook with rage beneath the blanket, but a moment later, this was replaced by a thin feeling of grief and regret, something that had come seemingly come out of nowhere.

'But...what if he's not?' She thought, her face dropping. 'Hold on, what are you even thinking? That you can _feel _him watching you? What the hell does that even mean? That's not something you can feel! It's…...well, just that! A feeling! A feeling that you're risking your life over! If he's really as good as he seems, then he might not even defend himself if I attack him. He'll think he failed to save someone. Failed in his mission to help people. He might _embrace _that fate. And then, I'll have done nothing but kill an innocent. An innocent who did nothing but help.

For the first time since she had clambered into her bed, Meteora turned over and looked away from Ery's door. Then, as soon as it had appeared, the notion that he was looking at her through whatever means vanished instantly, like it was never there to begin with. Meteora gasped as she realized what this meant.

'It's gone…' She thought, her eyes widening as she practically went into a state of shock. 'It's fucking gone! And if he is really observing me, then it's not like he would look away the second I rolled over! He'd spend the whole night making sure I didn't try anything! So...so then what was it?'

Reaching deep into her psych, Meteora began trembling as the guilt she was hit with only a few second ago started increasing in power. Her emotion started being widely thrown around as tears started to well up in her eyes. She then started skating uncontrollably, looking like someone had thrown her into a freezer.

'What am I doing?' She thought to herself. 'What has he done that's suspicious? The Voice warned me about him and I _think _he's looking at me? Is that it? Everything else is based on a hunch. He's been doing nothing but acting kind, caring, and…and…...acting...like...him. Holy...holy shit. He's been acting like how _he _was in the old days.'

Meteora bit her lip bloody as she recalled the earlier flashback she had in the bathroom, with Jenkins comforting her right after she smashed that mirror and told him that she hated the look of herself. A different person than who he was now. A person that reminded her...much of Ery.

'Is that why I don't trust him?' She thought. 'Be-because he subconsciously reminded me of Jenkins and I just didn't like it? Because it made me nervous and annoyed to see someone care for me like that? Like I was a scared little girl? Was that why I broke down in the bathroom like that? Because it was starting to take its toll on me, even if I didn't realize it?'

These questions and more poured through Meteora's head, each one hitting her like a punch to the face. She had been so careful around Ery for a reason that she wished wasn't true. And maybe now...it wasn't. The truth was much more complicated. Ery wasn't the one at fault here.

_She _was. She had brought all this on herself. The combination of her immediate distrusting of strangers as well as Ery reminding her of Jenkins had formed together and created a suspicion that grew stronger if he so much as looked at her.

Meteora sniffled. "Why…" She whispered. "I didn't...I couldn't have…no. Nonono. I'm sorry. I am so sorry…"

"_I'm back." _The Voice said, popping up out of nowhere. But if Meteora cared, she didn't show it.

"..."

"_I said, I'm back."_

"..."

"_Uh, Meteora?"_

"Yeah?" She whimpered, not surprised or concerned at all that the Voice has returned. Mostly because it had come back at the worst possible moment and she was currently a wreck.

"_Are-are you okay?" _It asked, immediately taking note of what was happening."_You...you're crying."_

"No." She replied. "I'm not." She took a deep and shaky breath. "What did you tell me about Ery again?"

"_That you shouldn't trust him." _The Voice said, still sounding greatly concerned for the girl. "_He likely has ulterior motives for us that will prove most troublesome."_

"He doesn't." Meteora said confidently.

"_Huh?"_

"He's not the problem here." She said. "I am. I'm the problem. I've been suspicious of him this whole time for no reason other than my own insecurities. He's genuinely trying to help me. All the while I've been making plans to kill him and escape in case things went wrong."

The Voice sighed. "_What went wrong?" _It asked. "_What did I miss?"_

"Enough." Meteora said. "You missed enough. You wanna know why I distrust Ery? Why I don't like being around him, even when he was being more friendly to me than any stranger had ever been?"

"_Umm...why?"_

"Because he reminds me of Jenkins." She said. "But not like how Jenkins is now. The Jenkins from the past. The one who was a parent and not just a protector." Meteora clenched her teeth together. "I think seeing Ery like this was affecting my subconscious. Making me think that he wasn't who he said he was. Because I didn't like the memories it brought up."

"_Meteora…" _The Voice said, and immediately she knew what it was about to say by it's tone. At this point it was way too easy to tell. "_Just because Ery was bringing up some bad memories, that doesn't mean he is a good person. Think about it. Why would he live out here if he truly wanted to-" _

"But they aren't bad memories!" Meteora whispered/yelled. "Those memories are some of the best and sweetest ones I have! Back before _any_ of this. No magic, no Janna, No Drosid, no time travel, no-"

"_No Eclipsa?"_

"..."

Meteora remained deathly silent after this, as if all the air had been knocked out of her. Because it was right. She was just listing all the bad things. Every thing horrible that had happened to her in the past month or so. And thus…

"_You're forgetting the good." _The Voice told her. "_And I know. It's the apocalypse. There's not much good to find out in the wastes, or anywhere else really. But it's still there. Your mother. All the people trying to live peacefully in the Underworld. The fact that your Jenkins and Mariposa have cared for and protected you as your father and sister, and that they wouldn't let anything hurt you."_

"But-but those three things are the only things that I think are good. Everything else is bad." She said, as if she was trying to find a reason to stay miserable. "Anytime something has gone right, it all goes to shit soon afterwards. It's basically a loop at this point. Just the same thing happening over and over again, without any stop to it. That's my life now. Those are my memories."

"_...Are you trying to make yourself depressed?" _The Voice asked. "_This isn't really like you. I know you're a teenager, and so you're probably going to go through a phase or two, but this is pretty sudden. I…...this is not you."_

"Maybe." Meteora said. "Or maybe it's just how I felt on the inside all this time. Did I bottle it all up perhaps? Bury it deep as I could, trying to ignore something that I knew would come back to haunt me later? How long have I had these feelings?! My whole life?!"

The air seemed to grow heavier as Meteora continued to nonsensically complain. And not figuratively. The actual air in the room got thicker like something was affecting it. In the next room over, Ery took notice of this almost immediately, knew what was causing it, and began to wonder if he should take action.

"_Uh, Meteora, I think-"_

"And now I'm here." She said, ignoring the Voice and whatever it had to say. "In the past, staying at the hut of someone who I've treated like trash and have been suspicious of simply because they reminded me of my father, and who has been so nice to me! What would have happened before if I tried to kill him the second I woke up? Can you spell "I'm the bad guy now" Voice?!"

Meteora practically yelled this at the top of her lungs, no longer caring if her temporary caretaker heard it or not. The entire hut started shaking like it was in an earthquake, and the epicenter was Meteora.

"_Meteora!" _The Voice yelled. "_Calm down! Your emotions are subconsciously affecting your magic! You're unleashing waves of it that could-"_

"Good." She said.

"_W-what?"_

"Good." She said. "What if I just destroy everything? What if I wipe it all out of existence? You said the monster butterfly form had the potential to wipe out entire planets, right? So what's wrong with doing that? No more planet, no more Seth. No more Seth, no more problems!"

"_What…what the fuck is wrong with you?!" _The Voice cursed, a rather rare event. "_Where is this coming from? Using the monster-butterfly form to destroy the entire planet? Have you absolutely lost it?! You're supposed to save this world, remember? Why are you thinking about these things?!"_

"I-argh! I don't know!" Meteora said. "They just came out of nowhere! I was already a mess when you arrived. Which, by the way, you took your damn time with! What were you doing?! What if I had been injured or killed while you were away?"

"_I...sorry." _The Voice said, not warning to upset her any further. The fact that the entire room was still shaking was something that it did not want to escalate. "_But I had too. If I don't find out why we came to this time and why you aren't dead from overusing your magic yet, then we may never get back. It's possible the time stream has been corrupted. If that's what actually happened, then I need to find out how and why so I can try and fix it."_

"Oh goody. A corrupted time stream." Meteora scoffed. "Isn't that just great. I mean, I don't understand what that means, but it's bad right? Wait, who am I even kidding? It's definitely bad…"

"_Indeed. But don't think you can just take the conversation elsewhere. What was that just a few seconds ago? You got more angry at me than I've ever seen you…...I think. And you claim it "came out of nowhere"? Really?"_

"Do you want me to lie?" Meteora growled, making her surroundings tremble in place like they had been tossed in the air. "And I think that anger is still there. I'm still pissed at everything right now. Except Ery."

"_Is that so? Well, then perhaps you should...should...oh crap."_

"What?" Meteora asked. "What's wrong now?"

"_That...that deceitful little son of a bitch…" _The Voice said, momentarily confusing Meteora. "_Oh, he is going to pay for that. If this doesn't wear off…then I am going to make sure that he spends an eternity suffering."_

"Uh, you're starting to sound like Jenkins, and it's freaking me out." Meteora said. "What's going on?"

"_That little shit Ery. He…...wait._" It paused and appeared to think about something, while Meteora took the covers off of herself and sat up. "_Are you angry right now?"_

"A little yeah, but not as much as I was before. I think I kinda lost it earlier."

"_Do you still think that blowing up the world is a good solution to all of this?"_

"I...no? I'm pretty sure that was just in the moment. I was too overwhelmed with all those problems and feelings crashing onto me at once. And the fact that you were also talking to me didn't help matters."

"_Errr...right. Good. That meant the effects are seemingly temporary, because that was the fastest emotional turnaround I've ever seen. Looks like I came in when you were hit with the worst of it. I wonder what he was actually hoping to accomplish here. Was he just having some fun?"_

"Who are you talking about?" Meteora asked. "Wait, are you talking about Ery? Did he do something to me?!"

"_Quiet down!" _The Voice yelled at her. "_We're already in a bad enough situation. No doubt he's heard every word of the last five minutes."_

"Right...sorry." Meteora said. "But so I really need to be quiet? Like I said, I only thought he was evil because-"

"_Because of a reason that could easily_ _get you killed." _The Voice said. "_I know he reminds you of how Jenkins once was. He reminds me of that as well. I remember it. I saw him. How he acted around you two. How caring and careful he was. But that person is gone Meteora. He's not coming back. Now that you've grown up, you have to see that. And by the way, why would you even want him to start doing that kind of stuff again? I thought you hated being treated like a little kid."_

"I do." Meteora said. "But that's not the point. I'm not sure if I _actually _want him to come back, or if I just...miss it. Miss how simple things were back then. Like I said earlier. There were so few things to worry about back then."

"_No, there weren't." _The Voice stated. "_You had plenty to worry about. Running out of food and water. Random scavengers attacking you. Getting lost and being unable to find the others. Yes, those are insignificant problems compared to the ones you gave today. But life was not simpler. Just more repetitive."_

"I still have to worry about those things." Meteora said. "Nothing has changed in that regard. All the classic problems have just been tossed up with the news ones."

"_Mm...not really, if I'm being honest. The three things I listed are hardly a concern for you anymore. Running out of food and water? You have those packs for the moment. Being attacked by scavengers? With your magic, you don't have to worry about that. Just making your hand glow would be more than enough for them to turn tail and get as far away from you as possible. And as for getting lost? You're staying in one area for the moment, and have a camp to go back to, so yeah."_

"I _was _staying in one area until I got us stuck in the past." Meteora pointed out, making sure to keep her voice to a whisper. "And by the way, do you know why we came here of all places? And why haven't I died yet?"

"_I...I don't. I spent hours trying to figure it out. I looked through your memories. I looked through mine. I double checked every part of the mind realm to make sure nothing was going haywire. But I found nothing. Whatever the reason, it is a mystery to me."_

"That's not comforting. So I guess the only thing to do now is to try and get back to our time. Although...I did make a discovery earlier."

"_What is it?"_

"My magic isn't recharging at the normal rate." She revealed. "By now I should have enough to cast an attack spoke or something, but I don't. I'm still really weak. I'm not saying that it's _not _coming back to me, it's just going really, really slowly."

"_That's...interesting. I suppose that could be the travel spells taking an affect on you, or maybe-Wait! That's it!"_

"What's it?"

"_I think I know why you aren't dead. But I have to be sure. I'm going to go now. Stay here and don't do anything stupid."_

"What? You're leaving again?" Meteora hissed. "But you came back only a few minutes ago? And what were you talking about when you mentioned something about "what Ery did to me?" We kind of just skipped over that for a while! There's still a lot I have to discuss with you!"

"_Can't. More important things. I'll be back in the morning."_

"No! Wait! You...you...no." Meteora said, realizing that it was already gone. She was alone in her head again. Alone in this hut. With the lizard she thought was actually good for a second there, but now that the Voice said he had "done something" to her, possibly relating to the outburst from earlier, the suspicions had returned and with it, the anxiety.

She groaned loudly. "That was easily the dumbest and most nonsensical conversation I ever heard in my entire life." She said to herself, even if it really wasn't true. "Seriously, I got more questions than answers out of that." She paused for a moment and then let herself fall backwards onto the bed, not bothering to pull the blankets back up. "Although, in all honesty, that applies to most conversations I have these days."

Meteora swallowed and wished she had some water, as her throat was so dry it felt like someone had taken sand right of the desert and made her eat it. But she ignored this feeling (she was good at doing that after a decade and a half) and instead put her hands behind in her head and let the bedspread stay at her waist. She was hardly even cold anyways. In fact, she felt warm, almost like she had a fever. But Meteora knew better. She wasn't sick. That heat was from all the rage she had expressed earlier, something that had taken a greater toll on her mind than initially thought.

'And...what even was that?' She thought. 'It was just like the anger I felt before I cast the travel spell. Unhinged, almost, like I couldn't control myself. Like I _needed _to let it out or else I'd have blown up. But...would I?" She contemplated. 'I've held in my anger before, and usually everything turns out okay. But this time...when I exploded and let loose with my magic...I just got us stuck in two huge messes. First we got placed in the past, and now Ery now a lot more than I'd like him to know. So...I guess this means I should try and hold it in? After all, it's not like I'm _literally _going to blow up if I get too angry.'

She bit her lip and let her head sink into the pillow.

'Okay, that's only partially true. A blood vessel in my head might explode or something. I think? Did Jenkins say you can die that way? I'm pretty sure he mentioned something about brain aneurysms, but were those caused by anger or something else?'

She scoffed. 'Something I need to ask him to explain when I get back. Along with god knows what else. Like who Ery is and...hey!' She gripped the sides of the pillow and buried her face into it. 'That's another thing I still have to figure out now. That damn old lizard...is he good or bad?' She asked herself. 'Which is he really? It feels like it's back and fucking forth with this guy. First I thought he was going to murder me because of the location and his overly friendly nature, and then I thought they _I _was just an asshole and making assumptions because of said nature, and now, with the Voice saying he "did something" to me, I'm not sure what to think. Like, what would he have even done to me in the first place? And when? When he brought me back to life? Later than that? Or maybe even earlier?'

Meteora huffed and turned back on her side, specifically the side they didn't make her think Ery was spying on her. She was done with that.

'Screw it.' She thought. 'Screw all of it. For now, I'm going to say forget all the earlier plans and just go to sleep already. If Ery wanted to kill me like some random murderer, he'd have done it already and not wasted any of his food or water or stuff like that on me. He has something else planned. I'll make sure to keep a close watch and all that crap until I figure out a better, or at least more detailed, plan. I'll break _my _rule of making every decision for myself and play by _his _rules. But if I get the energy needed to leave this time, then I'm getting out of here without a word, and never coming back.'

She exhaled, closed her eyes, and started to feel sleep overtake her.

'The past..._this _past...is dead to my future. I focus on that only from now on, even if there's not much left of it at least then maybe I'll finally be able to save one world.'

'Just...one.'

And as her consciousness faded away into dreams, Ery, still watching her like a hawk, rested his hand in his chin. The girl was powerful and at least knew some sort of magic. That much was evident now. The way she made his hut shake in her moment of anger proved that. But who was she talking to? And was she really from the future? Had to be, her anger was likely clouding her judgment and making her forget that he could hear her. But all these answers could be useful. All of it intrigued him. He smiled as a plan came to mind.

'That anger…' He thought. 'That power she had...I think I found the perfect way to use it.'

He took his eye away from his spy hole and chuckled.

'And now all that is left...is to break the girl, and make sure she unleashes it exactly where I need her to be.'

**End chapter 34**

**A/N: Oh boy. Things are going back and forth just like Meteora said. At the current moment, she doesn't know what to think of him. The Voice got off topic and explained other things before it could specify what it meant by him "doing something" to her, and then left, which it seems to do a lot nowadays. But what he did will be explained. I'll give you a hint though. It is responsible for her uncharacteristic outburst earlier in the chapter. Where she thought that blowing up the world was a good solution for her problems, as well as some doubts she had.**

**Next chapter Ery will see a portion of what she can really do, and we'll get a likely look into what's happening in the present.**

**Oh, and that shaking was definitely an unintentional move by her part. That's something that will come up again and will also be expanded upon as to what it really is.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	35. Chapter 35: Wrong place, wrong time

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 35**

**Wrong place, wrong time**

"Anything?"

"No. Still nothing. Just...gone without a trace. No footprints, no supplies lying around, nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I made sure to triple-checked everything. There's no sign of her anywhere."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"DAMMIT!" Jenkins yelled, and not wanting to waste an opportunity to physically express his anger, he reared his hand back, curled it into a fist, and smashed it into a nearby wall, causing the entire thing to shake violently and for dust to fall to the floor in literal clumps.

Mariposa, who had been practically standing right next to him, cringed away from this outburst and took a step or two away from him, but didn't go any further. He wasn't mad at her after all. He was more mad at himself for not finding Meteora and letting her disappear into thin air, even after a whole day of searching. It was clear that this whole thing was beginning to take its toll on his psych. Mariposa was coping in her own way, in that she ignored what might happen if they _didn't _find her and simply focused on the actual search itself. Treating it like a scavenger hunt, if you will. Only the thing she was trying to find was an actual person and not some object.

"Dammit…" He repeated, placing both his arms against the wall and leaning on it. "Where could she be?" He asked for the hundredth time. "We've checked everywhere! There's nowhere else to hide! Nowhere else to go!"

"Calm down." Mariposa said. "Getting angry about it won't solve anything. And by the way, you've said that a dozen times already. I get it. Everyone gets it. She's gone. But doing..." She motioned towards the crack he made in the wall. "..._this _won't help us find her."

"Of course. You're right." Jenkins said. "_You're right_. I have to calm down. Think about what Meteora would say if she saw me like this. I can already hear the criticism…"

Jenkins expected Mariposa to laugh behind her, but instead the girl groaned and sat down in a nearby chair, placing her elbow on the armrest and pressing her face into her hand. She had an expression similar to a person who wanted to quit their job and take an eternal vacation, only to realize that they couldn't because that would mean destitution.

'What an absolute fucking mess.' She thought. 'If we don't find Meteora soon, then I swear _I'm _getting the hell out of here as well. I knew that Jenkins might go a little crazy if one of us vanished, or god forbid, died, but this is too much. I think I'm literally watching the process of this man's descent into insanity.' Mariposa then thought back to something he said earlier and scoffed, thinking of how ridiculous it sounded. 'There's nowhere else for her to go. Yeah. Sure. Give me a break dude. She can fly. Meteora can go _anywhere _she wants. And if I'm being completely honest, considering that we haven't found her anywhere, the only thing I can think of that would explain this is…'

"How do you know she didn't just fly away to go find her mother?" Mariposa asked, bringing her ideas into reality. "I feel like by this point we should start to consider all the possibilities."

"Yeah, we should." Jenkins said, turning around to face her. "And I get it. I see why you'd think she would do that. After all, it might not even take that long. Depending on how fast she can travel in that form, she might be able to make it to Eclipsa's settlement by the end of the day. A couple hundred miles is nothing when you have magic. And with just how _much _magic she has fueling her…" He shrugged. "Yeah, she could probably do that if she really wanted to."

"So…so then do you think-"

"No. No, that doesn't mean I think she did it." Jenkins said. "Not like this at least. Not by disappearing without telling us first. That's not like her."

"Are you sure?" Mariposa asked. "I mean, we both saw that random light in the forest, back when we were still hanging out at the Avarius's house. That might have been her transforming into her Butterfly form."

"I haven't forgotten about it." Jenkins said. "Beside finding Meteora, whatever that light was has been at the top of my mind ever since I saw it. But it wasn't her going Butterfly. When Meteora shifts into that form, she emits a green light, not a golden one. Do I think that she was casting something out there? Yes. Do I think that she turned into a giant bug again and took off? Definitely not."

"Fair enough." Mariposa said, slightly peeved that she had forgotten that detail. "But I don't see any other way she could have vanished like this. Like you said, we've checked everywhere. She's not in Echo creek. The portal is still blocked. And Meteora's not stupid enough to go out in the Wastes alone on foot. I honestly don't know what other option there is besides her going Butterfly and leaving!"

"No! There...there has to be another way." Jenkins said, calming himself and not wanting Mariposa to think that his anger was directed at her. "Think. Think. That golden light has to be connected to it somehow. Where have you…Star maybe? Her Butterfly form was golden. Maybe she-no. No, that doesn't make sense. No! Wait! It might! Eclipsa knows where we are! If Star gained magic again, then Eclipsa might have sent her to-agh, that doesn't make sense either! She wouldn't come here alone and then kidnap Meteora for no reason. But what else...what else…"

At this point, Mariposa decided that enough was enough. She couldn't stand to see him rambling on like this. It was too painful. The thought of losing both her sister and her foster father on the same day (one literally and the other mentally) was something that she didn't want to see. As Jenkins continued to contemplate all the possibilities, she stood on the tips of her toes and snuck outside, taking in the old and stale air for the millionth time. It tasted like how chalk felt. A feeling she had gotten quite used to after all these years.

"Now what?" She asked herself, standing in place and shifting her feet. "Go back inside the mayor's office and make sure he doesn't go mad? Keep trying to find Meteora, only to probably fail again? Do nothing?"

The third option was the most appealing, but also one that she knew was the least productive. That's how things usually were around nowadays.

She sighed and her stomach grumbled, a byproduct of her not eating for the past five and half hours. Behind her, Mariposa was sure that she could hear crashing noises from inside the mayor's office as Jenkins tossed a chair around, followed by an obscene number of curses, most of which ended in either "k" or "t". That would probably go on for a while. She had already seen the wrecked meeting room that didn't have a single piece of usable furniture left, no doubt Jenkins work as well. Why he had trashed it was anyone's guess, although Mariposa suspected that it was likely due to personal reasons and thus didn't bother asking. But she knew that whatever these personal reasons were, they took their toll on him a lot more than he liked to show. She had only stopped a few times to think about how all this must have been affecting him (badly), being in the decimated capital of the world that he was supposed to help govern and protect.

And we all know how that turned out.

But that whole issue was another story altogether. And frankly, Mariposa didn't have the time or the incentive to spend the next few hours thinking about it. At least not here. As she heard more yells of anger coming from the mayor's office, this time with "h" words added in, she figured it would be best to leave Jenkins alone for the moment and let him...cool off.

She walked away as casually as possible, the only thing on her mind being food. It had been too long and she was too tired at the moment to keep looking for her sister. Her and Jenkins search had lasted well into the night, eventually reaching a point where she forced herself to stop, lie down, and fall asleep on what felt like a pile of gravel. (It was actually human bone fragments, something she discovered the next morning, much to her discomfort/disgust.) After she woke up, she had wandered around until she found Jenkins asleep in a tree, something that she was given no explanation for.

And after tossing a few sticks at him to wake him up, the two of them had set off again, literally following the exact same search patterns from yesterday like a pair of machines.

It was repetitive and boring and hopeless and she _hated _it.

They'd never find Meteora like this. Not by looking in the same places over and over again and expecting a different result. She was _gone_. Wherever she went, it wasn't here. The realization had already hit Mariposa, and she had been trying to convince Jenkins of it, but he ignored her. And continued to ignore her. Mariposa

actually began to wonder if he would even notice if she went missing too. But in all honesty, she couldn't blame him for acting this way. Once she put herself in his shoes, tried to imagine how it feels to have one of the people whose lives you're responsible for snatched away from you so unceremoniously, possibly to _never _return, she understood.

Also because her own coping method, which involved focusing on the "now" instead of the "later" was beginning to fail. Jenkins wasn't the only one with an urge to trash everything in sight, and if this kept going, then he might not be the only one to give _in _to that urge either. Mariposa felt the need to punch something just as much as he did, but unfortunately, any attempts at punching her surroundings would leave her with some bruised knuckles, at best. There wasn't really anything soft out here.

So that was not an option. She only hoped that curing her current hunger pains was the solution to fixing her mood, although that was likely a bit too much to hope for. So Mariposa marched on, walking smack in the middle of the street, lining her feet up with the faded white lines of paint she was trampling on in a futile effort to distract herself. But as she gave up on that and looked upwards, she caught the sight of something that was far more distracting, and ten times more interesting to look at.

Butterfly castle.

The early morning mist that had covered the entire town was starting to fade, giving Mariposa a clear view of the enormous structure, standing in all its glory. It still looked like it might collapse at any moment, but it had lasted this long, so Mariposa knew that wasn't as true as it seemed. Besides, she had already been inside, and it hadn't collapsed then. So it simply falling over for no reason wouldn't make sense.

Her initial reaction to the castle was to scoff however, as her mind went back to Jenkin's plan from a while ago, where he hypothesized that they might be able to kill some demons if the three of them got the tower to topple over and function as a makeshift crusher. It was a terrible plan. Mostly because they all might die as well. How would they get the demons over there in the first place? Fetch a cape and do it matador style? (yes, she knew what a matador is, which is a story and a half)

Talk about ridiculous.

Although even after all this, the castle still intrigued her. She looked around. She was still alone. It was just her. For some reason, she felt something pressing her on, telling her to move forward and investigate the castle. She had no idea why. Jenkins said he had already checked the entire building from top to bottom, something that took a good three hours. By the end of it, he looked absolutely exhausted. So it's not like she'd find Meteora in there. Especially when there were more _pressing _matters to attend to. Like food.

And yet, she didn't move towards the forest where they had put all their supplies. She changed direction and walked towards the castle, not even knowing what she was trying to accomplish. As she got closer it's size truly started to reveal itself. She had forgotten just how _big _it was. From a distance, it looked so much smaller. She could almost fit it between her fingers. Like she had done the sun when she was younger, before Jenkins told her that her eyes would melt if she kept doing it.

It had almost seemed funny to think about back then. Her eyes literally melting like ice cream or something out of a cartoon. But she had never seen a cartoon, and ice cream was a food that she had never eaten, but had craved for years until she realized that the odds were against her, all things considered. It took her a while to accept that she would never taste it. She almost shed a few tears, until she remembered what Jenkins once told about only doing that if absolutely necessary, as crying might make them dehydrated faster than one might think.

'God, what a fucked-up childhood.' She thought, shaking her head. 'He really needed to teach us not to do things in a better manner. How saying all those things didn't traumatize us is beyond me. Although that's probably because we grew up with that kind of shit and got _used _to it all. I'm hardly even fazed by blood, and someone dying right in front of me doesn't do a thing. I've seen all that a hundred times over. And even this…'

The "this" that Mariposa was thinking about was the sight that greeted her as she approached and entered the gates of Butterfly castle. The same sight that she had seen last time. Hundreds of Mewman skeletons, piled up to the point where some parts almost reached her shoulders. All of them coming here, afraid of the bombs, having no idea that the gates and wall would provide zero protection.

But at least they weren't in any pain now.

Mariposa cleared her head and walked on. There was no time or need to dwell on any of that. Maybe if Meteora "saved the world" or whatever and it was somehow repopulated to a point where society thrived once again, those bones could be buried. But was all that could be done for them now. More likely than not, all of them would be thrown into a mass grave, unmarked and forgotten. With so many bodies, a couple hundred more would be nothing but a statistic.

That's all they were. And soon they might not be anything. If she, Jenkins, Meteora, Archibald, and everyone else in the Underworld died, then technically, they wouldn't even _exist. _No one else knew that these bones were here like this. Sure, maybe a few scavengers did, but if she was being honest with herself, they were either found by Archibald and sent to Hell, or likely tried to steal something from him, so he ran, they chased him back to the Underworld, and were subsequently killed by Dave's guards out of self-defense.

And then that would be it for them. Frozen in history, with nobody there to remember them, just a blank spot in time. And while Mariposa knew that it was impossible to be truly immortal, that eventually _everyone _was forgotten about with their bodies tossed away like trash, she still wanted to try. It was natural for a person to strive to be eternal. To want the entire universe to know that they were there, that they existed, and learn about all their deeds and accomplishments.

But deeds and accomplishments was something that Mariposa was significantly lacking in, despite the fact that Jenkins had plenty by now and Meteora _would _have some soon enough. But she accepted this, like everything else. It's not like the world would forget about her. Jenkins and Meteora wouldn't let it. She knew that if she had been the one to disappear instead of her sister, that office would still be torn to shreds by Jenkins all the same. He cared about them both, to the point where he'd shield them behind any type of harm.

But this was just common knowledge to the two teens. The dozens of times he had literally thrown himself into danger to protect them was proof enough of that. So she didn't need to think about this any longer. No point in trying to solve a problem that already had a substantial answer.

Mariposa sighed and moved into the main castle, which was actually quite boring and empty, if she was being honest. Just like with checking places for Meteora, she didn't know why she expected anything different than the last time she was here. Not that there was much in the first place. In fact, the only thing that was worth mentioning from the last time was when they found the tapestry room. All those Queens. All those depictions of people that Jenkins and told them so much about.

(Well, really, he had only told them about three of the Queens and their tapestries, but still. It made four hours and hours of good story material.)

And coincidentally, that room was the one she had just come upon after turning a corner. Like the rest of the castle, it looked like a photograph, stuck in time. Mariposa entered the room and looked from Queen to Queen, as if expecting their unmoving, weaved eyes to look back at her. They didn't, of course. But it didn't matter. She looked. She stared. And before long she got to the one that she knew the most about. She almost turned into a statue as she lay her eye on it, before glaring at the depiction with some unknown emotion.

The Queen of Darkness.

Eclipsa Butterfly.

Meteora's mother.

So many names, but they all meant the same thing.

Mariposa paused and gazed at it like it was stuck in a thick fog. This was her. The one who had been the reason behind so many actions, the one who would be behind so many actions _yet to come_, and a person that Mariposa was honestly so sick of hearing about all the time that she wasn't even sure she wanted to meet her this point.

She sat down in front of the tapestry, her legs crossed. Her head looked from side to side, before she spoke up in a vexed tone.

"Hey." She said. "Before I begin, I suppose I should say that I...I know you're not real. I know you can't hear me wherever you are. But I still think I need to talk to you. To say what I feel about this whole crappy situation."

Mariposa cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"You...you're taking everything away." She said. "Before you, magic, and the Voice, it was just us. Alone out there in the Wastes. But now it feels like _you're _here too, with Meteora talking about all the stuff you told her. When we're not doing anything important, it's like you're the only thing on her mind. And I get it. If I was in the same situation as her, I'd be thinking a lot about you too."

She stood up and glowered at the tapestry. "But not like _this. _She's obsessed with you. With magic. With the Voice. She only speaks to us when it's necessary and not for general conversation. The past week I've been noticing that pattern. And it's getting worse. She keeps running off instead of hanging out with me. Do we do anything interesting? No, not really. But still. It's nice. Because that's how it's _always _been. Before, of course, you."

The tapestry stared down at her. It expression didn't change, as one would expect, but Mariposa could feel what it was trying to say deep in her soul.

"I'm not jealous!" She yelled at it, before crossing her arms and turning away. "Don't give me that look. I was just...worried. Worried that one of these days we would lose her and never get her back. And guess what? That's exactly what happened. She's gone. She's gone and I'm betting she's not coming back until she finds you. But am I positive of this? Am I absolutely sure that this is what happened? No. But at this point, because we can't find her _anywhere, _and because she disappeared without a trace, I don't know what the hell else she did."

Mariposa then growled and ran towards the effigy, before grabbing the edges of the fabric and attempting to tear it off the wall.

"It's-_umph_-unfair, that she gets you and I don't! She gets to know that her parents are fine and dandy, waiting for her in a safe zone that we somehow haven't found even after fifteen years of searching! As for mine, they're gone just like she is. Probably dead! And you're…" The tapestry started to rip. "Ruining…" The seams tore in half at the middle. "Everything!"

With one final tug, Mariposa successfully managed to rip the cloth in half with a violent tearing sound, making one part fall to the floor in a heap while the other remained hanging up, otherwise undamaged by her attack.

Meteora stood there for a second, breathing heavily and feeling the soft textile in her hands. She sighed again and let it and herself flop to the floor before facepalming.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I guess I really am just jealous. No matter how hard I try, there's always a small part of me that can't accept the fact that you're alive and they're dead."

She fell onto her back, using the fallen piece of fabric as a makeshift pillow. "But who knows? Maybe they're not. Maybe they're out there somewhere, surviving just like we did. Beating up scavengers, searching for supplies, and occasionally having to deal with evil magic priests or giant demon-"

Mariposa realized that she did not want her parents to survive the exact same way as they had.

"...I take that back." She said. "But like I said, they might still be out there. Waiting for me. Thinking of me and my brother every day. Just like how Meteora...thinks about you everyday."

Mariposa paused and then chuckled as she turned back to the portion that remained on the wall. "Guess it's the same thing then, huh? If I get mad at Meteora for thinking about you, then I'd have to get mad at my parents for thinking about me. And I can't get mad at _you _either, because we're in the same position Eclipsa. We both occupy someone's thoughts."

She sat up and pushed herself off the ground. "I'm not sure I still want to meet you. After all, that would just lead to Meteora spending less time with me. With _us. _But if that is what happens...I think I'll be cool with it."

Mariposa smiled before suddenly frowning as she looked down at the crumpled tapestry.

"Now I can only pray to god that she doesn't come back and see what I did..."

**Ery's Hut...but not really**

Cold.

She was once again in a cold place.

It bit at her skin like a thousand needles stabbing her at once, creating a painful feeling that spread through her entire body like a virus, pushing past every barrier and taking over without reason or cause.

Not that Meteora cared about that. She had felt worse. Whatever this cold/needle feeling was, it was nothing compared to the three times she had been stabbed, that time her ear had been shot, or you know, when she had died. _Twice._ One of which was by a cold much worse than this. She was more worried about _why _it had returned. It wasn't as bad as the frigidity from the Canadian wilderness, but still uncomfortable enough that it made Meteora want to jump into a pit of lava to warm herself up.

'Oh god, what now?' She complained/thought, mentally preparing herself to open her eyes so she could see what the hell was going on. 'Did Ery throw me out of his hut to fend for myself? I swear to the level five being, if he-'

She opened her eyes and her thought train came to a skidding halt, although it would be better compared as a full-on derailment. Because Meteora was most certainly not outside. Or still in the hut. Or anywhere else that she could think of being "cold."

She was back in the Monster Temple.

Yes, there was no doubt. She was back. In an instant, she was on her feet frantically looking around to make sure that this was real life and not some weird dream. And with every glance she took, there lay more and more evidence that this wasn't a figment of her imagination. The statues. The walls. Even the cracks in the damn _floor _were uncanny to how it had been back when she last saw it, back in the remains of Echo cree-

Wait. Something was wrong.

This was definitely the Monster Temple.

But it was _not _the same one she had seen in ruins back at the town. It was cleaner. Sturdier. With less damage and brighter colors. It almost looked...normal. Like it should have looked before the bombs hit.

Meteora began to get a very bad feeling, one that began to eat her up from the inside. If this was still the past...before the bombs hit...did she somehow _teleport _from Ery's hut to here? Was that even possible?

'I mean...of course it's possible.' She thought. 'I literally traveled through time. Teleporting somewhere can't be any more difficult.'

'...'

'At least, assuming that that's what actually happened. Speaking of which, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON."

But Meteora was well aware of the fact that there was only one way to find out. She calmed herself before carefully taking a step forward like she was standing right next to a cliff, feeling the hard ground against her feet. It was a nice change of pace after stepping on snow and wood for the past few hours. It made her feel...at home almost. Like this was right, and she was where she was _supposed _to be.

But she shook those thoughts off. This was hardly a surprise. After all, this _was _her home. It had been at one point. No doubt these floors felt familiar because it was the same one she had crawled on as a baby. Why wouldn't she feel right at home?

Although "right at home" to her would feel more like a deserted landscape than this. Much like the beds, she had gotten so used to the environment of the wasteland that being near anything else felt odd and occasionally uncomfortable. Even this place. The sense of familiarity she got still had a tinge of weirdness to it. More so now that it was all intact and looking like it had been. Fascination aside, all of it unnerved her.

However, these feelings were irrelevant considering her current situation. Meteora walked on, looking for proof that she was still in the past and actually at the Temple. She wasn't exactly sure _what _she was looking for, but there had to be something. Any clue or hint would be nice, but the thing that'd obviously prove it beyond a doubt was seeing an actual person. When the Voice took her to it's memories, no one else could see her. Because that's all they were. Memories. But if someone saw her, and actually reacted to her presence, then that would be enough for her. And it felt too real to be a dream. (Even if she had had some pretty vivid dreams before. Or visions. Or whatever they were.)

But despite her hopes, nobody appeared, and for some reason she felt too scared to call out for someone, as if she was supposed to keep quiet. So the only thing left to do was to keep moving until she found what she was searching for.

And she did.

After turning yet another corner, Meteora tensed up as she spotted a beam of sunlight shining onto the floor. She slowly followed where it was coming from and saw a window in front of her with no glass covering it. Nothing but a square-shaped hole in the wall. She gulped and walked towards it, taking one step every second and avoiding the sunbeam like she'd die if it was touched. Once she reached the window after what felt like hours, she gripped the edges of it, her breath being taken away from her as she peered out into the world.

It was the town.

Just like she had seen in the Voice's memory. Whole. Together. Complete. With bright blue skies and a smell that filled her nostrils with ecstasy, she knew at that moment that this was no vision. This was one hundred percent real. She stumbled backwards at the sight, despite having already seen it before. Because unlike last time, she was actually _there_. She could leave the Temple and interact with actual people that she didn't have to be constantly suspicious of. There were no scavengers. No evil magic priests. No evil _Janna. _No Underworld. None of it.

And for a split second, a small part of Meteora told itself to stay in the past and forget the future. Because here she had a better chance to unite the three species of the world. It'd be easy. First she had to find Eclipsa, and…

and…

Oh.

This wasn't going to be easy, was it? That wasn't _her _mother after all. It was the past version, nothing less, nothing more. There was already a baby Meteora in this timeline that was to do what it was supposed to, and now she wanted to selfishly intrude on that and shove her younger self out the way while she hogged all the glory. Meteora almost slapped herself in the face at this, wondering where this had come from. It wasn't right. It wasn't-

'No.' She thought. 'What am I thinking? Thinking like that is completely natural in this type of situation. Who wouldn't want a chance like this? Doing it in this timeline is obviously a much easier task than doing it in one where most of the world's population is a pile of ash.'

She sighed and crossed her arms. 'But still, calm down.' She told herself. 'Don't get too excited. Whatever this is...however I got here...it's nothing but a temporary setback, just like being thrown into the past in the first place. I have to find a way to get back to the future, but first, I have to get out of the monster temple. No matter what, I _can't _let myself be seen by anyone. I won't allow myself to screw up this timeline. It's not fair then. So stay out of sight, especially-'

"Excuse me." A sudden voice from behind her said. Meteora's entire body turned taut at the sound and then froze in place, like a thief caught in the act. Her heart rate was turned up to eleven as she realized who that voice belonged to. A voice she had heard before. A voice she had never forgotten the sound of, and likely never would. Even if the one she heard had obviously belonged to an older person, it was still instantly recognizable. She couldn't believe her accursed luck. Out of everyone she could have run into in the past, of course it had to be _her. _Meteora didn't dare turn around, lest she possibly be recognized as the daughter of the woman standing behind her.

"How did you get in here?" The person asked, Meteora not even wanting to name them in her mind. "The Temple is currently closed to all visitors, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

As they said this, Meteora's mind began racing madly as she was once again trapped by another person from the past, only this one was somehow worse than Ery ever could be.

"WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo-" She thought frantically. "What happens if she identifies me? Wo-would she even be able to in the first place?" Meteora then bit her tongue, although she hardly felt any pain due to her brain going into overdrive. "Ah, who am I kidding? She's my mother! Even though she's only ever seen me as a baby...wait, no, she also saw me in my monster form back when I was still evil or something. But whatever. The point is that if she saw me like this, as a teenager, she'd still know who I am. And besides, it's not like there's any other monster-Mewman hybrids around. Even if I managed to escape without her seeing my face, I'd stick out like a stain.'

While Meteora quietly contemplated all of this, her mother's past self got more agitated, although it was more out of fear for the fact there was a stranger in her home then out of anger.

"I-I'm not going to ask you again." She said. "I need you to leave the Temple or I'm calling the police to have them escort you off the premises. I'm not-"

"NO!" Meteora blurted out, making Eclipsa take a reflexive step away from her. She then quickly added, "P-please don't. Please…", knowing how threatening that first word must have seemed, but it had been just as much a reflex as her mother failing to hold her ground. Being arrested was one the last things she needed right now, and what would she even tell them? That she was from the future? Ludicrous. Meteora didn't even know what to do if she was arrested. Jenkins has hardly told them about that kind of stuff, considering that there were no real laws anymore.

But she knew that this was probably an inevitability. Her only choices now were to either flee or turn around, both of which carried their own problems. Fleeing meant having the police after her. Turning around meant her mother possibly having a panic attack out of shock. (She was _pretty _sure that was possible.) So none of these options were particularly appealing.

It would have to be fleeing however. Her mother seeing her daughters older self might cause irreparable damage to this timeline. At least, assuming that Eclipsa wouldn't faint and then pass it all off as a bad dream.

Just as Meteora was about to run, she heard her mother gasp like she had realized something important. This shouldn't have made her pause, but it did. Had she already recognized her? How did she even…? The tail maybe? The horns? What-

Her eyes went wide.

Her _voice._

Eclipsa has to have heard it before. Back when she was in her monster form, or when the baby version of herself babbled. Those two things may have sounded different, but Meteora knew that while age changed a person's voice, the ones who had grown up alongside that person would always know. It was something she had learned with Mari, and Jenkins' voice also seemed to obey this rule. She was sure the two of them could age a hundred years and she'd _still _be able to tell it was them.

And just like that, her suspicions were confirmed.

"Your voice…" Her mother said. "It sounds...familiar. _Too _familiar. Have we met before?"

Meteora flinched at this question, but couldn't help relaxing a bit. Okay. It looked like that while Eclipsa _did _admit that her voice was one she was well-versed with, she didn't appear to know that it was her own daughters. Meteora honestly felt a little hurt at that, but shrugged it off. She had to focus and use this to her advantage.

"No." She said, trying to put on a different voice but failing miserably. "I've never met you before in my life. This is the first time I've even seen you in person."

(Technically true)

"A-are you sure?" Eclipsa asked. "I swear that you sound like someone I know. And the way you look...that hair."

"What about it?" Meteora asked, wondering why her _hair _was what set her off. How would she recognize that? Her hair was uncombed and raggy. There was _no _way that-

It suddenly dawned on her that "uncombed and raggy" was probably how her monster form's hair looked. She bit her tongue again and sighed.

"I've seen it before." Eclipsa said, taking a step forward. "And it's the oddest thing. The way you talk. The way you look. If I didn't know better, I'd say you..." He eyes darted down to Meteora's legs and she spotted her tail. "Remind me of…" She noticed the purple monster markings on her arms alongside normal Mewman skin.

"My daughter."

"..."

"..."

"Meteora?" She asked, her voice trembling. "Is it finally time to-"

"NOPE!" Meteora yelled, and without waiting for a second, she sprinted away down the first hallway she saw. She heard her mother calling out behind her, but she ignored it and kept running. Her only hope now was to hide somewhere until Eclipsa gave up trying to find her. Then she might pass it all off as a hallucination or something like that. But even so, this was slim at best. She didn't know her way around this place, but the person she was running from certainly did.

At least, she would be, if "the one she was running from" was even chasing her to begin with. But when Meteora looked over her shoulder, her face became one of confusion as she saw that Eclipsa wasn't anywhere in sight. But as she briefly slowed down to catch her breath, thinking she was safe, several loud shouts were heard, although with the clanking of armor. She cursed under her breath and picked up the pace, realizing that her mother was not the one running after her. That kind of job was left to the guards.

'Why?" She thought. 'Why did this have to happen like this? Why am I here? Why was I teleported? Why did I come to the part like this in the first place? WHERE IS THE FUCKING VOICE?!'

All very good questions, and with no way to discern the answers, Meteora continued to run, with the guards hot on her tail. Eventually she saw a light from around a corner. Sunlight maybe? A way out? She'd definitely have a better chance outside, even if she "stuck out like stain." However, this might not even be a problem. Once she got away, it'd nearly impossible to find her. After a week or so of exploring the outside of the post-apocalyptic version of the town, Meteora knew almost every place where one could hide. (The Monster Temple was actually one of these places, but obviously the circumstances prevented that.) One of which was right outside.

This was it. She put on a burst of speed and ran around the corner, ready to burst through whatever door or window was there so fast that she'd leave behind a cutout of her silhouette. However, only a second after doing this, she stopped in her tracks.

Dead end.

A stone wall that was almost entirely blank stood there, with a single torch directly in the center of it. A few glass tapestries were hanging to the walls on her right and left, and Meteora's mouth gaped open as she realized that she had been duped yet again. The torch light reflected off the glass and gave it the appearance of sunlight, making this the second time that Meteora had been tricked into turning a corner because of a false promise of escape. But at least she hadn't done it alone the first time. Now that it was just her, it felt so much worse.

Meteora stood there for a moment as the footsteps behind her grew closer and closer. She almost couldn't believe it. She had been so close. (Not really actually). She could have gotten away. She _should _have gotten away. Her fists clenched up as the guards chasing her rounded the corner and took up defensive positions after spotting her. Meteora hardly paid them any mind for he moment, instead continuing to chastise herself

for getting stuck like this. Why didn't she spend more time in the Monster Temple?! If she had done that, she'd already be halfway across town. None of this running around and hoping an exit magically appears crap.

"Got you." One of the guards said, in a thick accent that Meteora had never heard before. "Time to give up girl. Surrender and make this easy on yourself. There is no need for us to fight."

Meteora gave no response to this and started to sweat. Despite how bad everything looked, she had a plan. They just had to get close enough for it to work. There were only three guards behind her, and Meteora felt that there was enough magic in her for a low level Solis spell. Doing this, she could momentarily blind them and then get away. Surprise would be her only advantage. Hopefully they'd take her in normally instead of shooting her with a tranquilizer or taser or something like that. It'd give her a chance.

Although considering how archaic their weapons and armor looked, she had a feeling that she wouldn't have to worry about them having anything even mildly related to Earth tech...

"Last chance." The heavily accented guard said. "Put your...uhhh...what do the humans say? Ah yes, put your hands in the air and don't try to resist."

Meteora did as she was told, throwing both her arms above her head but still refusing to turn around. This was it. Once they got close, it was all or nothing. She had to be ready.

The accented guard let out a relieved sigh and then moved forward along with the other too. "See?" He said. "There is no need for any violence."Now, you will come with us, and we will take you to police so they can sort out this mess." The guard and his accomplices finally got in range for the spell and Meteora closed her eyes and concentrated. Just one second more…

"But I must say." The guard continued. "I am impressed. It is very hard to sneak in here after visiting hours. As you must know, with all the terrible riots happening, Eclipsa has made sure it have extra-"

"SOLIS!" Meteora screeched, and she turned around and stuck her hand in his face whilst making sure to keep her eyes shut. He only had a second to react with confusion before her palm practically blew up with a burst of light, making him cry out in pain and granting all the guards a temporary blindness.

Meteora didn't wait. The second she heard them yell, she dashed away, making sure not to touch any part of them. There was no time to try and mask the sound of her footsteps. If they caught her again, they wouldn't be as nice as they had been the first time. She had to get out _now._

"AH!" She heard behind her. "You little brat! I swear you will pay for that!"

"_Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit-"_ Meteora cursed frantically, the familiar clanking sounds of the guards footfall now following her again. They had recovered much too quickly for her liking, but after all, they had been wearing helmets, so she shouldn't have expected the spell to work to its full potential.

Not that that mattered. Right now, she just had to run. She turned another corner-

Only to slam smack dab into something large, red, and hair. Both her and the person she collided with fell to the floor, although Meteora took the brunt of the hit. Dazed but still conscious, she forced herself to get up off that ground and tried to resume her get away, but couldn't. It felt like she had a migraine. Only a thousand times worse, as Meteora knew that if she wasn't able to shake it off, then she'd be caught.

The red and hairy thing she ran into was also on it's feet rather quickly, and Meteora could feel it's angered gaze directed towards her after it brushed itself off.

Wait.

That wasn't an angry gaze it was giving her.

More…dumbfounded? Shocked? More confused than anything had the right to be? _That _was how they were looking at her. Meteora was briefly confounded. Why would they be confused instead of scared or angry at a random intruder running into them like an out of control spell? Why…why….

'Hold on.' She thought groggily, rubbing her head as he vision started to de-blur. 'Red hair? Who do I know that has red...hair...oh fuck.' Her eyes widened as the monster before they finally came into view.

'It's my dad.'

The two stared each other done for a moment, Globgor still having the same bewildered expression in his face, while Meteora had one that was devoid of hope, knowing that the odds of her getting out now and still leaving this timeline unscathed were slim to none. Behind her, the guards approached yet again, rubbing their eyes and glaring at her furiously. Meteora barely even heard them and continued to focus on her father, her eyes growing wider by the second. This was the first time she had seen him after all. Words couldn't express how much Meteora wanted it to happen in literally any other situation. The first reunion with her mother had been heartbreaking and loving to her. But the first reunion with her father?

She felt nothing but sorrow.

She just stared at him, and he did the same until the knights spoke up and he lifted his head slightly to look at them.

"King Globgor!" They said. "Our deepest apologies for not having caught this intruder yet. Please be careful! She had some kind of secret light weapon! Here, let us take her away from your sight and-"

"No! Wait..." Globgor said, putting a hand up to halt their speech. "I…" He gulped. "You and the other guards are dismissed. Go to your quarters and take the rest of the day off. I can handle this on my own."

"...My Liege?" One of them said, befuddled by this order. "But...that would leave you totally unguarded. And this girl may not look like much, but like we said, she had some kind of light-"

"Power, yes, I heard you." Globgor said. "Don't worry. She's not going to hurt me. Now as your king, I am ordering all of this to lever and fetch my wife. Make sure to tell her to bring Meteora as well."

"..."

"...Do it?"

"I...yes, my King." The lead guard said, and in unison, they turned around and left to go look for Eclipsa, wondering what was up with Globgor acting so much like someone that wasn't him. Meteora watched them go and then turned to her father, who for some reason now looked a lot less intimidating. He looked down on his daughter as she looked up. Meteora could sense the tension between them that was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Awkward, but not hostile in any way. At least coming from him. But she knew that whatever Globgor was planning and/or thinking, it certainly didn't involve harming her. His gaze was almost comforting in its own way, similar to how Jenkins looked at her in the old days, like in that flashback she had in the bathroom of Ery's hut.

Somehow, someway, that gaze confirmed that he was already aware that the girl standing in front of him was his own child.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice filled to the brim with concern. "Did they hurt you at all?"

Meteora hesitated to answer as she considered her options, ignoring the odd fact that her father already knew who she was and had saved her. But as for the options, there were quite a few of them. The first and most obvious one was to try and escape again. Now that her head had stopped throbbing like she was having an aneurysm and all the knights were gone, it might be possible. However, it was more likely than not that Globgor wouldn't let her. Judging by his size, he could cover more ground in one step than she did in three, so if she tried to get away she'd be caught in an instant. Escape was still not a viable option. She scratched that off her mental list.

A second possibility was to try and use "Solis" again. She wasn't completely drained of magic just yet. There was maybe a little left in her, a few scraps that had been left over from the last spell. She could jump up and blast him in the face with it, thereby making escape possible. (The whole escape thing was going back and forth it seemed, something that was greatly annoying to her and most likely everyone else.)

But, while using Solis again might work, Meteora couldn't help but internally slap herself for even thinking of such a thing. This was her _father. _Her one family. Even if he was from the past, she wasn't allowed to treat him like they weren't related, similar to the way she had reacted to her mother earlier by running away. She was _not _going to hit him with any kind of spell.

And besides, she sensed no bad intentions. Doing any of that stuff would accomplish nothing besides making her look like a jerk. After a picosecond more of contemplation, Meteora made up her mind. She'd stay here and see how it all played out. Timeline damages be damned. It was already irreversible at this point, so why not take it further?

"No." She said, looking down. "If anything, I hurt them more."

Globgor smiled at her and kneeled down to her level. "With that little light power they were talking about, right?"

"...Yeah."

He nodded and stared her in the eyes. "I'm going to cut straight to the point." He said. "Even if it's going to make this feel rushed. You sound like her, in a way. You look like her. Same tail. Same ears-" He tilted his head. "Err...sorry. Same, uh, _ear. _Singular."

"Yeah, that's a bit of a story." Meteora said, knowing full well she'd have to explain it later. "Let me guess. You think I'm your daughter, right? Meteora Butterfly?"

"Are you?" Globgor asked. "Because I'm about ninety percent sure."

She took a deep breath and smiled sheepishly. "Hey dad." She said, making Globgor's eyes widen. "I know you probably have a lot of-"

Globgor didn't let her finish. Without any warning, he leaned in and hugged her tightly, making her squeak in surprise. She had expected his arms to be like tree trunks crushing her, but they weren't. They were...soft. Gentle. Like the hug her mother gave her had been. She let herself sink into it.

"Finally…" He said gratefully. "We've been wondering when you were going to arrive."

Meteora stopped sinking into it and pushed away from him. "W-wha-what?" She asked, wondering if she was actually crazy.

"Oh. I...probably shouldn't have said that." Globgor mumbled. "I know _you _have a lot of questions now. But first…"

He grabbed her by the shoulders, and Meteora began to feel safe again.

"Let's hold off the explanations until your mother gets a look at you…"

**End chapter 35**

**A/N: Yeah, her parents kind of knew she was coming, in case anyone didn't understand. And I'm sure you have a lot of questions as well. And they will be answered, and this will be important. Meteora is still in the past and is not dreaming. This little excursion to the Monster Temple is only temporary however, so don't think that we're done with Ery. He'll be back eventually. **

**It's all a giant mess, as per usual.**

**But thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	36. Chapter 36: The Second Reunion

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 36**

**The Second Reunion**

"Calm down Eclipsa. Calm down. You knew this day was coming. You and Globgor have both known it for a long time, ever since that message from...him. She's your daughter. Your own flesh and blood! You can talk to her! It's not like she's evil or wicked or monstrous...anymore, at least."

After saying these words, the tone masked with a thick layer of doubt, the sole inhabitants of the royal bedroom, the one of the fanciest and largest bedrooms Monster Temple, let out a sigh.

And then did it again. And again. And then by the tenth time she did it, the Queen realized that she was no longer sighing, but instead breathing at a very rapid rate, her heartbeat pounding in her ears at what she had witnessed only a half-hour ago. Which was her own daughter, the same person she had spent only a few months raising standing in front of her and looking much older than the Meteora who was currently taking a nap in the next room over.

It had taken Eclipsa a while to realize it at first. With the way her back was turned to her and the fact that she looked like a thief sneaking about with her tense and nervous posture, Eclipsa immediately assumed that Meteora was an intruder and not her child. But once she heard that voice, the voice begging her to not call the police, she felt something inside her. Familiarity. That the person before her was not a mere burglar but rather something more.

Because she had _heard _that voice before. A year or so ago, when Meteora grew to the side of a building and threatened to consume the souls of every last Mewman, the two of them had exchanged words numerous times. The voice her monster form used was gruff, deep, and filled with a bottomless intent to punish the ones she saw worthy of it.

But it was still _hers. _And yes, the teenage version of her daughter certainly had a different voice. Much more high-pitched, but also sounding like the kind of person who had seen nothing and death and ruin for their entire life to the point where they had become numb to it. (For some reason. As far as Eclipsa knew, this Meteora had lived out a completely normal life. She had not been informed of how they were living, only that they had problems.) It was faint, but it was there. And that underlying tone was somehow even scarier than monster Meteora's promise of a Mewni ruled by an iron and unforgiving fist. It shook Eclipsa to the bone, and she was left wondering what her child had been though. One thing she had noticed was that part of her ear was missing, like someone had taken a knife to it and sliced off the pointy part. There had been a small bandage on it, although it looked old, dirty, and in desperate need of a replacement. How had that happened? Who had even done that?

However, that was something to focus on later. For now, she had to calm herself. Because like Eclipsa had been saying, she _knew _this was coming. From that dream. The dream that involved...no, she didn't even want to think about him right now. Meteora was all that occupied her thoughts. Hopefully she hadn't run too far after she sent that gaggle of guards to chase her, although she did hear what sounded like a shriek of pain a minute or so later, making her start to regret not pursuing Meteora herself. Because if they hurt her...then Eclipsa might cry for days out of grief for not telling the guards that the intruder was her daughter when she had the chance.

So now she was here, pacing around her room, too afraid to go and investigate for herself what had happened. Someone would be back soon to tell her the news after all. It might not be long at all! Why, it might even be right now!

...

right…now!

...

right...now…?

...

Please?

...

Eclipsa looked at the doorway expectantly.

Nobody showed up, and she heard no more footsteps, no more shouts, no sounds they indicated anybody was making their way towards her. She buried her face in her hands and sat down on her bed, having retreated to said bedroom after the guards ran off. Because she really needed a place to hyperventilate without anyone seeing her. And although she had gotten that out of her system, Eclipsa was still talking to herself, trying to convince her mind that this was normal, and not out of the ordinary in any way.

She clearly wasn't having much luck. And even as she drifted back to that dream time and time again, a million times a minute no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, the Queen was still freaking out. She and Globgor had prepared for this ever since that night, that message. Mostly mentally. They thought they were ready. That they'd be perfectly okay with an alternate universe future version of their daughter just popping into existence, a version of her that they would then have to help with...whatever was going on. The two of them knew it'd be _something, _but they didn't know exactly what. Which would only make this more difficult. How could they prepare for a talk or a therapy session or whatever it was she needed without knowing what the problem was beforehand? It was all going too fast!

Then finally..._finally..._she heard a faint clanking noise as one of her knights approached her bedroom, marked by the unmistakable sound of their armor slapping against the stone floor. The most wonderful sound she had heard in a long time. The knight got closer and closer until they came into view, rubbing one of their eyes for some reason and frantically blinking the other as if they were seeing spots. Eclipsa's joy faded as she realized that something dreadful had happened to them, but they spoke first before she could query them about the matter.

"Queen Eclipsa." The knight groaned, sounding very much like he didn't want to be here. He paused for a second to blink both of his eyes in rapid succession but let out an annoyed groan in response, apparently having failed at whatever he was trying to accomplish. "Your husban-I mean, King Globgor has sent for you, and requested that you join him and the intruder. He has also asked that you bring along Princess Meteora for a reason that I am in too much pain to care about."

As overjoyed as Eclipsa was to get news at last, even if it was only a simple request from Globgor, she couldn't help but take note of the last part of the guards words, about him being in great pain. Frankly, this was unnecessary at best, and a complete breach of protocol at worst. Normally Eclipsa would give a slight reprimanding if such a thing occurred, reminding them to be knight-like in all situations. But the way he was rubbing his eyes and cursing under his breath made her reconsider and instead inquire about said eye pain, as she had a feeling that alternate universe Meteora had a role to play in it.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

The knight huffed in annoyance like this question has physically hurt them. "That little brat that broke into the Temple blasted me in the face with some kind of light power. Now I'm seeing spots and I don't know if it's permanent or not." He then mumbled. "Fucking better not…"

"Light...power…?" Eclipsa asked nervously.

"Yeah. And I think she yelled something right before she did it." The knight claimed, before digging through their memory in an attempt to remember. "Something like...soli? Salai? Salami?"

"Solis?"

"Ah! Yeah! That's the one! Solis..." The knight exclaimed. "After that, she thrust her palm right at me and before I knew it, I was blinded. Thank Mewni this helmet protected me from some of that, otherwise it would have melted my eyeballs right out of my head."

Eclipsa sat wide-mouthed on the bed, unable to hide her shock at the news of her daughter's surprise spell-usage. _That _was something she hadn't been informed of. Although considering who gave her the news, she really shouldn't be surprised that some information was withheld, even something as important as that...

"Is something wrong my Queen?" He asked, no longer concentrating on the intense burning sensation they felt. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's...nothing. Just a yawn." Eclipsa lied, before closing her mouth. "But anyways, Globgor wants to see me? With the intruder?"

"Yup. And he wants you to bring Meteora. I'm going to be honest with you, I think the king needs a psychiatrist. When we finally caught up with the girl, he didn't order us to apprehend her. He told us to _leave _him with her despite what we said about her being dangerous. I swear, I've never wanted to disobey an order more than in that moment."

"I'm sure he had a _very _good reason." Eclipsa said. 'No doubt warning to speak with Meteora in private.' She thought. 'Convince her that's everything's alright and we're not here to hurt her. Judging by her reaction to me, she likely didn't expect any of this to happen. I can only imagine what she's thinking right now, or when she cast that spell…'

"But very well." Eclipsa blurted out, getting off the bed and heading to the door that led to baby Meteora's room. "Stay here. I'll need you to guide me to them."

"Yes my Queen." The knight answered, before muttering, "First sensible order I've gotten all day…"

Eclipsa pushed open the scratch-covered door and was met with the sight of her child ferociously chewing the head off one of her many dolls. At her feet lay a pile of other doll heads, all of them brutally mangled with button eyes lying on the floor, crushed to pieces while white fluff carpeting the area. Meteora laughed sadistically as she finally managed to rip the head off entirely and shook it around like a dog with a chew toy. Upon spotting her mother, she spit it out and started wagging her tail.

"Aw, busy day sweetheart?" Eclipsa cooed, approaching her baby and scooping her up in her arms. Meteora giggled and began to playfully pat her mother's face. Eclipsa smiled and carried her outside to the waiting knight, who was now mumbling on about witches or mountain lions or some other nonsense that Eclipsa had no desire to make sense of. "Can you take me to my husband now?" She asked, while Meteora gnawed at her arm sleeves like a dog trying to get a cone off their head.

"Yes my Queen." The knight said again, and the two of them set off down the hallway, the same hallway that Eclipsa had panic-walked down earlier after seeing the teenage version of her daughter. A small part of her did wonder why Globgor had requested for her to bring baby Meteora, although it was likely so that he could confirm that it was truly her. And now that Eclipsa had the chance, she looked down and inspected her baby's tail, biting her lip upon realizing that yes, it was the same tail teenage Meteora had. And there were plenty of other similarities she noticed without even having to look at her from the front. The ears (or ear in this case), the hair, the odd purple markings on her arms and legs, the claws, even though baby Meteora's were still growing in. All of these were the same.

Yet for some reason, Eclipsa has secretly wanted for it to _not _be her. She didn't understand why. Perhaps she believed that she simply wasn't ready? Preposterous! They had prepared. They _were _prepared. They woke up every morning reminded themselves that today might be the day, and that they should get ready in case it was. But now that that day had come, now that it was finally time to meet her, Eclipsa discovered that _no, _no, she was _not _ready. Might _never _be ready. Because nothing could have ever really made them qualified for any of this. She just had to suck it up and go with the flow, as the humans liked to say.

'Suck it up…' She thought. 'I wonder if that's what Meteora is thinking right now…'

* * *

"H-hold on. You're telling me...that you _knew _I was coming all along?!"

"Well, not _all along_...but we've certainly known for a long time."

Meteora (the teenager, not the one chewing off people's heads) was currently having a mental crisis. And this time it was a big one. After her father had sent away the knights that were trying to capture her, he had revealed that he and her mother had _known _that she was coming back from the future (well, really, teleporting from one area to another _after _traveling from the future, but that's besides the point), and that they had been getting ready for her arrival. She could only stare and ask how, stil dumbfounded by the information that had been presented to her.

"How...how did you...what in…." She started, her voice sounding like a three year olds attempt at speaking.

"It's a long story." Globgor claimed. "And it involves some stuff that might be hard for you to believe in."

Meteora raised an eyebrow and briefly switched back to her normal self, unable to hold back on making a "my life is crazier than yours" comment. "Try me." She said. "Because I'm sure that _I'm _the one here who knows things that you'd have trouble believing in."

Globgor laughed. "You're probably right. Even though we knew this was coming, I'm still having trouble believing that you're standing right here in front of me. But like I said earlier, everything will be explained when your mother gets here. With...baby you."

Meteora winced. She wasn't sure how to feel about _that_. What would happen if she saw the past version of herself? Would they both fade out of existence? Fall into a trance and start repeating the same actions? Nothing at all? The Voice had never really mentioned that, as far as Meteora remembered, so she assumed that it mustn't have been that important. But on the other hand...she didn't really want to risk it. "Time-travel bullshit" as the Voice put it. Something that Meteora knew she might not ever understand fully. She had the tools to do it, she just didn't know what put the tools _together _besides magic. And frankly, as long as it didn't endanger her life, she didn't care.

So she currently cared a great deal about it. But that was something to focus on later. She wanted answers. And if she wasn't allowed to know _why_ they knew about, she at least wanted to be informed about a couple other things.

"Then answer me this." She said. "How...how long have you known? T-that I was coming."

Globgor let out a deep breath and rubbed his scalp. "A good…six months now? It's been a while. We've spent every day making sure to ready ourselves in case you arrived. I think I was a little more prepared than your mother was, but even so...I'm having trouble keeping everything together."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Meteora asked in concern, hoping that she wasn't about to watch her father go insane right in front of her.

"Oh, you know, not fainting and stuff." Globgor explained, before seeing her worried expression. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad. I'm just...surprised. Very, very surprised."

"I'm pretty sure everyone is right now." Meteora surmised, wondering if Ery was even awake yet and aware of her disappearance. This whole thing was definitely an improvement compared to that, due to the people that were involved, but...at least there she had an idea of what was going on, faint as it was. This was just crazy.

As Globgor was about to respond to this, they both simultaneously turned their heads at the sudden noise of two people coming down the hallway to their left, one of which Meteora instantly recognized as the clanking of a knight's armor. She gulped as they turned the corner and glared furiously upon spotting her. But they held their stance and moved aside to let Eclipsa enter, carrying Meteora who was now teething on one of her mother's fingers.

The second time they had seen each other, and the first they had met eyes. Globgor stood up from where he was kneeling and looked from his wife to his future daughter, hoping that one of them spoke first so that he didn't have to.

Eclipsa turned towards the knight. "You are dismissed." She said.

"What! You too?!" They exclaimed, unable to hold back their indignation. "Your majesty, while normally I would follow your orders without question, I feel like I _have _too just in case you and the King have gone insane. Because royal bylaws state that no monarch that is not of right mind can give orders."

"I am aware of this law, and I assure you, we are fully sane." Eclipsa reassured him. "But our business with the intruder is not your concern. It is ours alone. So leave us. That's an order."

"...Ugh. Fine." The knight said, after taking a deep breath. They walked off, mumbling about how they should have chosen to be a Solarian when they got the chance. Eclipsa made a mental note to have them reassigned later and turned towards the rest of her family. She put on her best motherly smile upon seeing their expressions, hoping that it would put future Meteora at ease

"So...here we all are." She said, a rather jovial tone to her voice.

"Yeah." Meteora responded, lowering her head and tensing her shoulders up as if to make herself smaller. "Here we all are..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Malk! Malk!" A childish voice said, breaking the silence, and everybody looked down at baby Meteora, who was gesticulating her hands at her mother and appeared to be asking for something. "Malk!" She repeated.

"Uh…" Meteora said. "Does she...I mean, do _I…..._oh god, this is so weird. Does...past...me...want something?"

"Oh, that's just her way of saying milk." Eclipsa answered, who then quickly pulled a purple and green bottle out of her pocket, popped the lid off and handed it to baby Meteora, who opened her mouth and started vigorously sucking on it like there was no tomorrow. The three grown ups in the room stared at her for a second, before Eclipsa cleared her throat and spoke confidently, as if giving her baby the bottle had broken any tension between the three.

"Now them, I'm guessing your father told you that everything would be explained once I arrived."

"Mm. Yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Meteora said, before spreading her arms and finally letting loose with her mouth. "So could one of you please explain to me exactly what the _fuck _is going on here?!"

"Ah! Please, watch your language." Globgor pleaded with her. "We try not to swear around here. Because if we do-"

"Fack!" Baby Meteora suddenly called out, echoing her future counterpart's words and letting go of her bottle in the process. "Fack! Fack!"

"…...then that happens. Oh boy." Globgor groaned, putting his hand over his eyes and letting out an annoyed and tired groan at what was sure to come.

"Errr...sorry." Meteora said, grinning embarrassingly. "Force of habit."

"Fack. Fack. Fack!" Baby Meteora droned on, before Eclipsa shoved the milk bottle back in her mouth. She latched on again and started drinking, but they could still hear her saying the word, muffled as it was.

"Force of habit, eh?" She asked, looking down at her baby in concern. "I hope this doesn't stick. Last time this happened, she said the same word nonstop for three days straight. And that one was far less...vulgar than this."

"Sorry." Meteora said again, rubbing the back of her head. "Uh, you know, I think we all got off to a bad start. Can we start anew with this whole conversation?"

"Please do." Eclipsa said.

"Okay, good. So, then, what's going on, and how did you know I was coming?" She asked, taking special care to avoid swearing this time.

"It's a bit of a story." Eclipsa said. "How about we move somewhere a little more...private first?" She suggested, gesturing her free hand towards the surrounding Temple, where anybody could walk in and see/hear them.

"That's probably a good idea." Meteora said, and without another word being said, the three of them headed towards Eclipsa's bedroom, the first place the Queen thought of. Eclipsa was at the front of the trio, taking careful glances at baby Meteora to make sure that she didn't chug down the whole bottle. Globgor was behind her, appearing to be deep in thought. And behind both of them was regular Meteora, who was also lost in her own head. Her legs were moving on autopilot as she contemplated just how she had gotten into this mess. Time-travel, right? Yeah, that was it. And then teleportation for some reason...did she have any dreams last night that might explain why this happened? Meteora couldn't remember. Which was bad. Because she had learned that her dreams were _very _important to her past and powers, despite how vague they were at times.

But if the answer didn't lie in dreams, and if the Voice was still somewhere doing who knows what and not watching and waiting to see what to do next like it had back at the hut, _and _if her parents didn't know and were just told that she was coming for whatever reason and nothing else, then she was on her own in order to find the answers. Again.

'That's too many ands.' She thought. 'Way too many for my liking. Whatever's going on, there _has _to be a sensible reason behind it. One where the reason isn't just "magic". Because frankly, that's getting to be a lazy explanation. After all, there has to be a sensible reason that magic's able to do what it does, right? Something like that can't just exist and break the laws of everything _at the same time _without causing the Universe to explode. Didn't the Voice say that magic existed in atoms? No, wait, it also said that magic was what held the atoms together...or something. But that means that all of this has to have a scientific reasoning behind…...behind…'

Meteora paused and her shoulders dropped.

'Oh, who am I kidding?' She asked herself. 'Scientific explanation? Give me a break. Jenkins once told me that _his _scientists had been working on a non-magical way of teleportation, but everything they did manage to transport died upon arrival from all their atoms being flung about where they weren't supposed to. Obviously I'm not dead again...I think, so why bother trying to figure this out the Earth way? Magic is what I have now, so maybe I should just say "screw it" and go along with all the crazy bullshit I see every single day. Including this.'

With her mind made up, Meteora decided to simply let her parents say whatever they had to say and accept it, regardless of how nonsensical it might sound. It was easier than trying to understand all of it, something that she couldn't be bothered to do anymore. Meteora already had enough to deal with without having to think about _this _too.

So the three of them trudged on until they reached a door that was immediately recognized by Eclipsa and Globgor, and only slightly recognized by Meteora, who felt that the doorway seemed familiar. It took her a moment to realize that she had seen it before, back when she explored the destroyed Monster Temple in her timeline, although she hadn't been aware of whose room it was. But this did explain why all the carvings on the walls looked more intricate than in other parts of the building. Meteora did note that they seemed much...fancier.

They all entered and took a seat. Eclipsa sat down on her bed and placed baby Meteora on a blanket, who began crawling about until she grabbed a pillow and bit off a chunk of it, then another. Nobody noticed.

Globgor sat down in a chair standing in a corner that looked like a dusty old throne, and Meteora wondered if that used to be _his _throne, before taking a seat of her own in a chair that had been pushed into a work desk covered in numerous documents and dozens of pens and ink quills. They all made themselves comfortable before staring at each other rather awkwardly again.

Meteora spoke first. "Okay. We're here." She said. "Now could you explain what's going on? Do you know why I'm here?"

"We...don't know why exactly." Globgor said. "All we really knew is that a version of our daughter from the future, you, was going to arrive and that we'd have to help her with whatever she was going through."

"..."

"..."

"Wait...are you serious?" Meteora asked, wondering if that was it. She wasn't _disappointed _per se, but still far from happy with the answer. She had been forcefully teleported halfway across the continent to her parents so they could _help her_? Help her with what? Her father had said that it'd be "whatever she was going through." But if she was going by that definition, then the list describing things that she quote in quote was "going through" would be several miles long. Not to mention boring and repetitive at times, as well as insanely nonsensical. Hopefully finding out where she learned this might clear things up.

'But even if I do know, what am I supposed to do then?' She thought. 'Tell them about why my life sucks so bad until they give me some miracle advice that can instantly fix all my problems? If simple advice had the power to do that, then the Voice would have given it to me a long, long time ago! Sure, it's given me plenty of advice that's been really helpful, but this doesn't make any…...any…...wait, no, it might actually make sense, don't make too many assumptions Meteora.' She reminded herself. 'That may only be _part_ of the answer after all. I'm betting that there's a lot more they still have to tell you, like where they learned about that and maybe even a hint on what exactly they have to help me with. You're out of your element here. Calm down, and don't overreact. No ones going to hurt you, and you're not in any danger. These are your parents, and that's literally a baby version of you crawling on the bed and...tearing a pillow apart.' She frowned at the ravenous display from her younger self. 'Hm. Someone should really stop that. But more importantly…'

Meteora gulped and let her arms fall to her sides, instead of crossing them at her chest like she'd usually do in a situation like this. 'No freaking out, no yelling, no more swearing, no nothing that might make them suspicious. This is real after all. This is them. This is…...is…'

She then closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip, almost praying that this wasn't all a giant set-up.

'Oh level five being, I really hope this is them and I'm not just thinking it is because of how badly I _want _it to be.'

"Why? Is that a...bad answer?" Globgor asked, finally snapping Meteora out of her own head. She gazed at him for a second before remembering what they had been talking about. She then sighed and answered, letting whatever was going to happen happen as it had too.

"It's not a bad answer." She said. "I think I was just expecting a different one. I was hoping you guys knew what was going on and why I was here, because I don't. I fell asleep, and when I woke up...I was at the Temple."

"When you woke up you were _here_?" Eclipsa mumbled, appearing to be confused by this statement. "That suggests you weren't asleep in the Monster Temple when it happened. Where _were _you sleeping? Do we not live here anymore?"

Meteora felt her right eyeball twitch involuntarily at this question. That's right. They didn't know. They didn't know about the apocalypse or anything like that. They assumed that she was still living here, and not in some death-filled wasteland with two other people and a truckload of problems that they couldn't even begin to imagine.

And even worse, she wasn't sure what to tell them. This could go several ways. The Voice has already explained that any changes she made to this timeline didn't affect her own because the second she arrived it split off from the main one. That meant she could prevent Seth from bombing everything like she had been talking about without having to lose Jenkins and Mariposa in such an abrupt manner. If she told her parents this, that Seth was going to escape from that prison up north in a while like the Voice claimed, then they could relay that message to the Jenkins from _this _timeline, who'd relay it to the prison, and then _they _would up security to the point where escape was impossible, even for whatever the hell broke him out in the first place. Giant monster or not. The end. She wins, Seth loses, and the world is saved.

But.

Was it her right to do so?

A small part of Meteora asked herself if it was truly right letting this happen. Well, of course it was right! She'd be saving billions! Earthni might get the chance to sort out the problems between the three races. Baby her might not have to live the most traumatic childhood ever known to man. Then she and Mariposa could become best friends instead of forced siblings! (Not that she minded the latter, but she wanted to know what it'd be like if they grew up normally together. She wouldn't mind giving this version of her that chance.)

But...what if it was _meant _to happen? The whole thing with Seth destroying the world, her and Mari being raised by Jenkins, learning to kill, finding the Voice, fighting Janna and Drosid, and even now, at this point, with her teleporting to this Temple in the past. What if this was what was supposed to happen? That all this was somehow predestined? Heck, maybe _her _parents, the ones in her timeline, experienced this as well. That it was all just a giant loop the Voice was unaware of, and they had met with a future version of their daughter and _she _had decided not to change any of it because of the same thoughts that Meteora was having right now.

However, Meteora was aware, of course, that this was nothing but speculation. Perhaps that course was the wrong one and her stopping the apocalypse was the predestined path. That this timeline and hers are the only ones out there. After all, it seemed like the Voice would know about the others if they existed, wouldn't it? It always seemed to pull that sort of information out of nowhere. And it had been a true Demi-god in the past. Something Meteora was sure it still yearned to return to.

Then there was the other option...that none of this was predestined. But she didn't want to think about that. Just the two right in front of her.

She couldn't make up her mind. It was all going so fast. She was still clueless. But lie or tell the truth? The potential outcomes and consequences of both were staggering. So Meteora made a choice to do both, depending on what happened.

She'd tell a lie for now. But later, after this version of her parents had told her everything they knew, she would deem it wise or not to tell them the _real _truth. If not, Meteora would keep her mouth shut, and that'd be the end of it. But if so, then she could finally tell them _everything. _Hopefully save this timeline in the process. Then when the Voice returned from...wherever, they'd go back home to the present and deal with that whole mess. Sure, she wouldn't be accomplishing anything that had to do with her future, but this one might just turn out alright, and wasn't that what she was supposed to do? Save the world?

Maybe she wasn't meant to save just hers.

'Alright.' She thought. 'It's official. That's the plan. Sure, there's probably a better one out there, but all in all, I'd say that's pretty good. Now, where would I be sleeping if not here...hm. Got it."

"I was...having a sleepover at Mari's house."

"Mari?" Globgor asked.

"Mariposa Diaz." Meteora enunciated. "It's a nickname for her. You...you do know who she is right?" She then mumbled, "Unless this timeline is already changed for some reason, that really wouldn't help matters."

"Yes, of course." Eclipsa said, much to Meteora's relief. "The Diazes' second child. You two…" She glanced at baby Meteora who was now chasing her tail like a puppy. "Have already had several play dates together, both on when Mewni wasn't merged with Earth and when it was, and I must say, I'm happy that you two are still friends in the future. Although I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise, because according to Marco, you grew up together in the same dimension at one point for fifteen years, thanks to some weird time laws between Mewni and the...Neverzone, I believe it was called. Still trying to sort out what that means. But no worries. We know full well who she is."

'Neverzone? Fifteen years? That explains what Mari was talking about that one time.' Meteora thought. 'She said that back on the mountain, when Janna made us see all those illusions, she hallucinated a bunch of monsters that she could only defeat by touching them and seeing memories of their earlier deaths or something. The memories of those monsters must have been from the Neverzone days. Hm. I wonder if I could ever get those back…'

"Hey, can I ask a question?" Globgor queried. "About the future, if it's not too much trouble?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, yeah. Sure. Go ahead." Meteora muttered, still mostly focusing on the whole thing with the Neverzome.

"Okay." Globgor said, before rubbing his hand together like he was readying himself to ask it. "Is the future...nice? How is it all doing? How's Earthni and the rest of the world fifteen years from now?"

If anything her father had said to her the whole time had gotten Meteora's attention, it was that. As the echo of his voice faded out of the room, she started to sweat and got several flashbacks, each more traumatic than the last. It was like a highlight reel, but the "highlights" consisted of the worst moments rather than the best. "Ummm…"

"_We can't just leave her here!" "Yes we can, let's go!"_

"_Thanks for taking care of us for all those years. You...were a good father to us."_

"_But whoever I met certainly didn't look anything like a god."_

"_SHE HAS MAGIC! KILL HER!"_

"_Whack her legs with one of the clubs. Make sure she can't leave easily. I'll make sure she can't get down."_

"_The snow...is so beautiful."_

"Well…" Meteora attempted to say, but failed as she now had an expression on her face that looked like she had just bitten into a lemon after the sudden influx of memories she just received. And some of these weren't even the most traumatic ones. In fact, out of these, only the ones where she had died lying in the snow and seeing her little sister bash an eleven year old's head were the ones that had the greatest impact on her.

She knew Drosid was powerful, but with her magic combined with the fact that she barely saw him for no longer than a few minutes, she found it hard to be scared. Janna and her priests were just an annoyance at this point. Jenkins mentioning that he met god might have made her slightly anxious back then, but now that she knew he might have only met the level five being or even a level four (she still didn't know how, and wasn't going to ask), it wasn't nearly as concerning.

But they all still affected her in some way. And there were so many. So many more that she could think of. She was sure that her "childhood" couldn't even be referred to as such. She had been thrust into a life with nothing but adult concepts. No _real _bedtimes, no school, no friends, only family, and nothing but suffering happening all around her. No matter how hard Jenkins tried to make the earlier years as comfortable for them as he could, it was impossible. Those were the worst years after all. (Apart from maybe the ones going on right now, because Meteora wasn't sure how much life had really improved since she got magic. Everything still sucked regardless, as it always had, as it always would.)

But those were the worst years because they had to be more careful back then. More scavengers, larger spreads of radiation, bigger groups to watch out for, and only Jenkins was there to protect them most of the time. While she and Mari knew full well how to kill someone, they lacked the strength to do any real damage. The intended victim might end up with a bruised eye or a few scratches at most. Because Meteora's claws hadn't grown in, her monster strength hadn't _kicked _in, and Mariposa was basically useless. They both were. Just a pair of toddlers that were trained in each and every way to murder a person, but any attempt at doing so would only cost them their own life.

She had gotten quite a few scars in those days. None of which she placed among the three or four that she knew would be visible for the rest of her life (those were entirely different tales of their own) but even looking at where they used to be gave Meteora a slight recollection of the event, along with all the pain that came with it. So many times she had rushed in while trying to help Jenkins, even if he had the situation completely under control. (Which was most of them.) And each time she did the enemy slashed Meteora across the cheek or chest with a knife when she got too close, creating a new scarlet stain in the dirt. Then Jenkins would get all pissy, kill the person who had dared to hurt her, treat her wounds, chide her again for doing something so stupid, and that'd be the end of it. Meteora eventually learned that one day she might receive more than a simple cut, so she stopped doing until Jenkins thought she was ready. Which wasn't for a couple years more.

But the first time he let her willingly join a fight, was also the first time that she ever killed. And her claws, which had finally grown to the point that she could actually hurt someone with them, was the instrument Meteora used to do the deed. (Well...most of it anyways. At one point she had...used something else that was sharp.) It was a memory that she never mentioned after it happened, and neither did Jenkins. They had both agreed to never speak of it again, mostly because of how it had occurred in the first place.

She had only been 9 years old at the time. Still a child by the old world's standard, but Jenkins believed that she was ready, as he had seen plenty of child killers before. Or maybe he got annoyed by her constant whining after forbidding her from jumping in a few years ago, and allowed it to finally get her to stop. Maybe he truly thought that Meteora was capable of taking a life. She was, of course, but he didn't account for how much hesitation she would face when it actually came down to it...and how she'd actually carry it out. Thinking about doing something is much different than actually carrying out the action after all. Something Meteora learned firsthand.

They had been ambushed by a pair of three scavengers. All of them frankly really weak and unthreatening, even as a group, but they had recognized the greatest threat first, and managed to sneak up on Jenkins before one of them smacked him in the head with a baseball bat, while Meteora and Mariposa could only watch. He tried to fight back, but the blurriness in his vision and the intense throbbing sensation coming from his skull made it slightly hard to fight back. So he yelled at the two of them to grab their knives, join in, and fight back. The day he had trained them for had come.

But it wasn't that easy at first. They were still, after all, children. Mariposa in particular. Her natural human instincts kicked in and she ran away out of fear after seeing the person who had basically ripped apart any person that threatened them in the past being brought to his knees. This had happened quite a few times in the earlier days. She got better over time, but out of the two, Mari definitely had issues with confidence at first. It was only until about a year later did she start jumping in as soon as possible and ruthlessly executing anyone that attacked them, regardless of who they were. It had been quite the change. After the fifth time she had run away from a fight, something in Mari...shifted. Although she never saw it actually happen, Meteora knew that Jenkins pulled Mari aside every now and then after this incident to help her out with her confidence problem. To do something like extra training that would help her understand that the ones attacking them weren't people. They were the enemy. And the enemy must be exterminated.

_She _certainly hadn't had training like that, only preferring to murder when it was necessary. However, she and her sister were polar opposites now. Meteora at first wanted to kill and fight like Jenkins, so no training was necessary in that regard, but now she was the most pacifistic out of any of them. (Although that was being slightly generous. Not a single person left on the planet could be considered a true pacifist.) As for Mariposa, she didn't want to hurt anyone in the early days, but eventually turned into the sister with the least compassion for her would-be murderers. And after a couple of days of training, she, despite all her confidence issues, finally became a murderer. A _real_ one. A person that didn't dispatch the people she saw out of self-defense, but simply because they were _there. _

Jenkins had made sure to put a stop to that little phase, after a month of her viciously attacking and killing anyone on sight that wasn't him and his other foster daughter with the steak knife she had found. His "training" had been a bit too effective, and Jenkins saw what he had turned her into and regretted it. He furiously pulled her aside one time to explain a few things to the girl, and it seemed she had trouble understanding again that _no, _not everyone is your enemy, just the ones that are swinging back at you. She finally understood that what she was doing was terrible, but only because Jenkins pushed himself to flat-out yell at her after she slit the throats of three random and defenseless people for seemingly no real reason. People that had stumbled upon them _right in the middle of his explanation. _

Jenkins hadn't been fast enough to catch Mariposa before her killer instincts kicked in and she ended their lives, despite standing right next to her at the time. (This led to Meteora suspecting that he allowed her to do this one last time so he could find a proper excuse for what he did next. Especially due to the fact that he hadn't taken her knife away beforehand, almost like he was hoping this might happen.) And as the life left their bodies while Mari looked down at her handiwork, Jenkins walked over and blew up at her. It was the angriest either of them have ever seen him. Because despite all the people that Jenkins had killed, he still greatly valued innocent life. Mariposa cried it out after he was finished and her murderous impulse came out with the tears, but was still...jumpy for years afterwards. She had taken a dozen lives by the end of it, maybe all of them innocent, and Jenkins made sure to never talk about them after her breakdown. Never added them to the list of people that they had seen die, and neither did she. Because if anyone ever found out the truth, they'd think she was a monster inside, despite her never going back to that lifestyle. Yet another event in their lives that was never to be spoken about.

He had also never apologized for yelling at her. Because in his eyes, the person he was scolding was hardly even human at that point, nothing but a ruthless executioner. It had taken the person who had taught her the lesson she was carrying out to scream at her to finally stop the rampage, and it was a good few weeks before she earned the privilege to carry any type of weapon again.

But he did apologize for teaching that lesson to her in the first place. Because after all, the whole mess was kinda his fault. Mari just misinterpreted it all.

And what was Meteora doing during this? Squat, that's what. She had been nothing but a frightened bystander the whole time, afraid of falling asleep each night and refusing to go to bed next to her sister as the body count kept racking up. And worst of all, Meteora didn't know if Mari actually enjoyed killing all those people or if she thought they were actually evil. Because if she _did, _then it meant that for a brief time, her sister had deteriorated to the point where she wasn't killing because they were threats. She had been killing for _fun. _

If Jenkins let it continue after those last three, then who knows what might have happened. The odds were that she would have eventually slit _their _throats while they slept and then gone off to kill anyone else that crossed her path.

But...back to the memory where Meteora had taken her first life. Because frankly, the rabbit hole of horrible things that they had been through in the past could go on for hours. The hybrid teens mind drifted away from her sister's most unfortunate phase and went back to one of her own dark moments.

Mari ran. They found her huddled in a nearby abandoned car a half-hour later, and the second she saw she started apologizing more times than was needed. Which was none. Jenkins didn't blame her. And Meteora could hardly hear any of it. Because after her sister had fled, she froze as well. Jenkins was down on the ground, one of the scavengers was approaching her, and she had turned into a statue. The scavenger, a sadistic smile on their face and a glimmer in their eyes, raised their knife to stab her in the head, all the while she stood still, doing nothing to stop it. Jenkins saw it coming, got a panicked look on his face, and yelled one thing that snapped her out of it. Eleven words. That's all it took.

"Meteora! If you die, you'll never get to see your parent!"

And…

And it worked. Because afterwards, she wasn't frozen anymore. It was more like the Universe itself had froze, and she had all the time in the world to think. So she did. That statement meant more and more the longer she thought about it. Because that was their goal. Still was. To meet her parents. She had been through nine years of _hell, _and this was seriously it? Killed by some nobody with a simple pocket knife? No. No, this was not how it was going to end. Her story was not over yet. She decided that however this fight ended, it was going to be on her terms, not anyone else's. The world came back to her as time unfroze.

Then in that moment, for the first time in her entire life, something inside of Meteora snapped.

She went _berserk._ Her face instantly transformed into a scowl, the girl becoming enraged by the prospect of never getting to see her mom and dad. Her first move consisted of ducking under the knife, grabbing it, and snatching it out of their hand. The person couldn't hide the shock on their face as their weapon was stolen from them, and raised their arms to protect themselves from when Meteora stabbed them with their own weapon.

Only she didn't.

She tossed the knife aside, bent her knees, and then leapt at them like an animal, claws aiming for their face, with her mouth wide open and showing off teeth that looked like they had been plucked from the mouth of a shark. The scavenger let out one last cry of surprise as she descended on them and literally started to rip them to pieces_._ Her claws slashed downwards over and over again at insane speeds, making a mess of their torso and head as blood and viscera went flying everywhere. Jenkins and the scavenger's two companions looked on in disbelief as Meteora slaughtered them like a wolf or a bear tearing apart a smaller creature, without mercy or any kind of restraint. Her victim was helpless to fight back, completely overwhelmed by Meteora's onslaught.

But Jenkins took the opportunity. He grabbed the bat out of one of their hands and whacked his assailant in the mouth with it before hitting the other one in the ribs, installing breaking several of them and making them fall to the ground in agony. Knowing the bat would take too long, he grabbed his fallen knife from off the ground and quickly stabbed them both in the head, causing them both to die without a sound. He paused and then turned his attention back towards Meteora, who was now lowering her mouth towards her victim's bare neck to finish them off.

Jenkins forced himself to look away as she bit in and then yanked her head back, ripping out their throat and killing them instantly. Their movements stopped as she spit out the chunk of meat and then sat there panting, momentarily unaware as to what she had just done. Jenkins gulped and approached her with caution, and the glare he gave her when he got too close made him want to run and hide along with Mariposa. Her eyes were like empty pits, deep and with no trace of Mewmanity in them. He almost thought they were glowing green for a second, before he quickly passed it off as an illusion, knowing what that would entail and refusing to believe it. But he didn't back down. Even if she attacked him, it was still his job to take care of her now. And that included helping her through moments like...this.

"Meteora…" He said. "Can you hear me? Can you understand me? Are you...there?"

However, her response was not what he was expecting. Instead of coming to her senses and saying something, she instead arched her back up like an animal and _growled. _Jenkins took a step back in surprise, but didn't retreat any further. He couldn't. Not yet. Not ever.

"Meteora." He said sternly. "I don't know what's happening with you right now, but whatever it is, I promise we'll get you through it. Me and your sister. Just...please calm down." He held his knife up in the air, and Meteora eyes it warily. "Look." He said, setting the weapon down on the ground in front of him. "I'm unarmed now. I'm not a threat. The threat is gone. The people...who were going to take your parents away from you are gone. You don't have to be a monster anymore. You don't have to do this. Just...come back to us."

Jenkins didn't know if he had said the right thing, as Meteora didn't respond at first. But eventually she started blinking before groaning and clutched her head. She then got back on her own two feet, although she clearly had trouble standing normally. Whatever spell had taken her over faded as her mind returned, but with no memories of what happened. She blinked a few more times before looking down and seeing the mess she had made, along with her blood-soaked clothes and a metallic taste in her mouth. Pure terror came to her eyes as she let out a cry of surprise and fell over. Before Jenkins could explain, Meteora scooted away from the corpse as fast as she could, horrified by the sight.

"Wha-what happened?!" She asked, before she spotted Jenkins, who now realized her ignorance of the event. "D-did I…?"

"No! Meteora, whatever you're thinking, it's not what happened." Jenkins said, quickly walking over to her and kneeling down. "Listen to me. Don't blame yourself for this. This wasn't you. This...wasn't you." He reacted, having a hard time finding the right things to say and just sticking with the cliches.

"But...but…" Meteora said, her lip quivering. She held her claws up to her face, one of which still had a piece of skin hanging off of it. She shrieked and shook it off before tears came to her eyes and she started sobbing uncontrollably.

"I-I'm a monster!" She cried out, reflexivity burying her face in her hands, causing them both to now be coated in crimson. "Why...why did I…...is this because of my dad? Some weird monster impulse I have? Why didn't you tell me?! What's happening to me?!"

"I don't know!" Jenkins said, desperate to calm her down. He grabbed her shoulders, something he had only done once or twice in the past. "Meteora. Meteora, look at me!"

The girl, although still crying to a degree where the blood that had been dribbling down her chin had been washed away and her clothes were becoming her own personal tissue, obeyed and gazed into his eyes, sniffling and filled with such guilt for her actions that it felt like it was crushing her.

"You're not a monster." Jenkins claimed. "Whatever that was...whatever you did...it wasn't you. The fact that you don't remember it proves that. I don't know what it was. But I do know that _you're _not like that." He pointed at the mangled body. "I know you'd never do that to a person. You're Meteora Butterfly. You're not a merciless killer, and I'm not angry or upset. So calm down. Because we'll get through this, and figure out why it happened. I promise. Okay?"

Meteora sniffed again and wiped her nose. "O-okay." She said. She then captured Jenkins in a hug, her claws digging into his back. He didn't react to the pain and simply returned the hug, intending to keep his promise and help her solve this mystery. No matter what.

But they never did.

They never found out how she had gone berserk like that. The event, if anything, was a one-off. She never leaped at another person and tore into them like a predator ever again. Jenkins knew that the thought of her never seeing her parents had been the switch to activate it, so he assumed that it was nothing but a rage-activated response she inherited from Globgor, something that Meteora accepted immediately, due to her wanting any answer matter how simple it was.

And it was never spoken of again.

But...the recent events. Her sister bashing the boys head in with a rock. Her sister becoming a murderer. Meteora tearing into that scavenger and ripping out their throat with her teeth. All of them and more. When her father asked the question, asked her how the future was, that's what came to mind. She only just now realized how long it must have taken her to have flashbacks of all those events, as her past parents were now looking at her with their heads tilted, as if she had suddenly fallen asleep right then and there.

"Do...do you need me to repeat the questi-"

"The future is...nice." Meteora said sheepishly, trying not to think of all the memories she had just vividly relived. "There have been some ups and downs...but overall, it's pretty nice."

"Oh. Well, I'm glad." Eclipsa said. "How are the three species of the world doing? Have we finally gotten past our differences?"

Meteora's eyes started twitching again. "That? Oh, um, there are still some people that aren't big fans of monsters or Mewmans, but most of the people that believe in that stuff...I'm pretty sure they're no longer around."

"What's that mean?" Globgor asked. "Have they seen the error of their ways, or were they all sent off to prison?"

Meteora resisted the urge to just flat out say "they're dead, along with most of everyone else". It was hard. The more she thought about it, the more Meteora realized that she wouldn't be able to dance her way around the questions much longer. She needed an excuse for them to take a break, even if it really hadn't been that since they started talking, and she still didn't know how they knew she was coming. This conversation had literally begun a few minutes ago that she thought about it.

"A...bit of both." She answered. "It really depended on who exactly they were. Some were willing to change, and some weren't." She put on her best smile. "I know you guys are dealing with this kind of stuff right now, so I'm sure you can guess who belonged to which category."

Eclipsa chuckled. "I most definitely can. But, now I have something else to ask. Something I tried to hold off until later to be polite, but I simply have to know." She took a drop breath. "What happened to your ear? Why is part of it missing like that?"

Meteora bit her tongue and started frantically thinking for a reason as to why a good chunk of her ear was gone and why it was wrapped up in an old bandage that _really _needed to be replaced. Her eyes soon fell on baby her, now sound asleep on the bed and drooling.

Meteora pointed at her. "Word of advice." She said. "Keep her away from the kitchen knives. And that's all I'm going to say about that."

"Oh my…" Eclipsa said, putting a hand up to her mouth. "Well, I'll make sure of it. I can't imagine how much that must have hurt."

"Ah, don't worry. I was too young to really remember it, so I don't recall a single thing about the event." Meteora lied the memory of the bulletin ripping through her skin coming to the surface. "...Yeah. Not a single thing. But…" She mentally prepared herself up to ask the next question. "Is it okay if we take a break?" Meteora mumbled. "I know we haven't been talking for long, and have a long way to go, but I'm still a little overwhelmed. And...I think I need something to calm me down before we really get into this."

"Of course. That's perfectly alright." Her mother said. "But may I make a request of my own?"

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure how to put this without sounding impolite, but frankly Meteora...you need a shower. And a change of clothes. I don't even want to know where that giant brown stain came from. I only assume you spilled something at that sleepover…" Eclipsa said, pointing at Meteora's shirt and failing to recognize the brown stain as dried blood. "Is that alright dear?"

"You're saying I smell bad then?" Meteora asked, although she wasn't really offended. She started whispering to herself, reminiscing on the past for the millionth time today. "Makes sense I suppose...it's been years…"

"What was that last part?" Globgor asked.

"Nothing. Just some nonsense. But okay. Although...could you wash the clothes I currently have as well? I really like them." Meteora requested, if only for the fact that she had never really had that many pairs of clothes to start off with, and thus the ones she was wearing were slightly sentimental.

"I'd be happy too." Eclipsa said, before getting up from her chair and grabbing baby Meteora.. "I'll go get you a new set of clothes, and your father can show you where the bathroom is. And Meteora...you are our daughter. You are as welcome as can be. Make yourself at home, even if you may not stay long."

"Thanks...mom." Meteora said, and Eclipsa gave her one last grin before walking off into the next room. She was now alone with her father again. About to bathe for the first time in...in...she couldn't even remember.

And she _really _hoped that she wouldn't have to ask how to work a shower.

**End chapter 36**

**A/N: Well, the reunion finally happened, (again, technically) and ended on a not so high, not so low note. The discussion between the three of them will continue in the next chapter. A bit short in some ways, but it was honestly as long as Eclipsa could have held out. Because she was **_**really **_**downplaying how bad Meteora smelled. Nobody points it out in the apocalypse because they all smell like literal shit too. No bathing because it wastes water is one of the main rules of out there.**

**But we got another flashback, Meteora's first time killing someone, a hint of her mostly non-magical monster side coming to light, (something that will not be as important later but may come up or appear once or twice) and a glimpse of how Mari was once a sadist. (Yeah, that happened. It was bad.)**

**There are several other events that Jenkins slapped the "no talking about this so we can forget it ever happened" rule, and that rule is obviously why none of it came up earlier in the story. In fact, Meteora is really the only one who has a super-clear memory of those two events that were mentioned. The others...just did what Jenkins hoped, for the most part. Forgot. Mari can still remember the head-bashing thing though. That's gonna stay with her forever.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	37. Chapter 37: Aqua treatment

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 37**

**Aqua treatment**

'I have _no _idea what I'm doing.'

This was the thought that perfectly explained what was going through Meteora's head after her father showed her the nearest bathroom and her mother had given her a new set of clothes to put on, due to the fact that the old ones could legally be considered a biohazard. She was left alone after these events, so now she was here, looking around at the unfamiliar environment like a hypnotized chicken.

Despite the ruggedness and overall archaic design of the Monster Temple, it's bathrooms seemed to be Earth-styled and quite modern, no doubt something Eclipsa had installed upon realizing how superior Earth lavatories were to Mewnian ones. The white tiled floor. The perfectly clean mirror hanging on the wall. The porcelain toilet that actually worked and wasn't covered with grim and mold. All of it was here, and all of it was new.

Or at least fairly new. She has gotten a glimpse of this kind of stuff back at Ery's hut, even if she hadn't really used it, but it was nowhere near as clean and fancy. (At least fancy by Meteora's standards.) And stuff like _this _was what came with a normal life. But Meteora was not ready for the sudden switch. Obviously, there were no bathrooms out in the Wastes. No sinks. No showers. Nothing. She and the others only did that kind of stuff when absolutely necessary, due to sanitation issues and a constant lack of water. It was unbearable most of the time. Not to mention any privacy they had was...rarely that private.

But now she was really alone, with all of it directly in front of her, ripe for abuse. Meteora didn't know how to react at first, staring blankly at how clean and pristine it was. She had failed to hide the shock on her face when the room was first presented to her, but thankfully her father had been facing the other way at the time. Eclipsa had placed the new set of clothes on the sink counter, and the two left soon after, leaving Meteora to her own devices.

Devices that she had no idea how to work.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true. She knew enough. She knew that turning the knob on the toilet flushed it and turning the knobs on the sink and shower turned it on. And even if she wasn't directly aware of it, it'd become painfully obvious the longer she figured out how to work them. Her fingertips brushed against the "cold" handle on the sink, before she gripped it tightly and twisted it to the left. Water shot out of the faucet at a rate Meteora didn't even know was possible, causing her to stumble backwards out of surprise.

She had been informed early on by Jenkins that that was what sinks did, but she just didn't expect it to be so..._spontaneous. _Wasteful. Noisy. Desperate to make it stop like the sight terrified her, she rushed forward and turned the handle in the opposite direction, and soon the water stopped and began to trickle down the drain until it all vanished.

Meteora's heart was now pounding in her ears, but instead of being scared, she was more embarrassed for having been startled by something so simple and harmless. It was just _water _after all. Actually clean and distilled water. It was ten times safer than any water she ever drank in the future, but she was terrified nonetheless. For a reason that she understood immediately.

For Meteora, it was all too alien and unfamiliar. She put her hand over her chest and felt her heartbeat going a mile a minute, while all the hairs had stood up on the back of her neck. Her body was reacting to this like it was a genuine threat, not an object that was made to wash her hands.

She carefully reached forward to touch it again, almost like spikes would shoot out if she made contact. Her fingers felt the cold metal of the handle for the second time as she reached with her hand and started to slowly twist the knob once more. Water began to come out of the faucet, but at a much more moderate rate this time, one better fit to what Meteora could handle. She gulped nervously and placed her hands under the water stream, feeling it between her fingers and then shaking it off repeatedly.

'God, this is getting repetitive.' She thought. 'Come on Meteora. You felt it. It's only water. It's not going to bite you. Think about how thirsty you are. Maybe try and take a sip. It'll prove nothing's wrong at all.'

'...'

'...Am I seriously having trouble convincing myself to drink some water?'

Meteora sighed and then took notice of a cup sitting on the side of the sink next to a small white tube that had the word "toothpaste" written on it along with a miniature plastic brush. She glanced from the still rushing faucet to the cup, and then grabbed said cup and put it under the faucet. It was filled to the brim in an instant, and she raised it to her lips and hesitated at the thought of drinking the glistening liquid.

'Stop being such a coward.' She thought. 'It's fucking _water. _If you can't do this, how are you even going to take a shower? Why are you so scared?! What is it going to do?! You were scared of magic at first, and now look where you are! Probably one of the, if not _the most_, powerful users on the planet! Drink the damn water and get it over with! It's...regular, plain, water. Like the stuff you drink out in the Wastes. It'll have the same taste, same texture, everything.'

Meteora huffed at her own stubbornness and downed the entire cup in one gulp.

She paused.

Then her eyes widened.

And before she could even process what she was doing, Meteora shoved her head under the faucet and turned the knob as far as it could go, drinking as much of the crystal clear liquid as was Mewmanly possible. The taste was divine compared to the (possibly literal) shit water they found in the apocalypse, actually tasting like something that wasn't filled with dirt or dust or something unidentifiable that was only occasionally edible.

This continued for a minute or so until Meteora's brain forced herself to stop, realizing that she was going to drink herself to death before she was anything close to satisfied. She gulped the last bit down and wiped her mouth, fighting off the urge to do it again.

"Holy shit, I am going to bring back a thousand bottles of this stuff to the future." She promised herself, panting slightly like she had run a marathon. "God, I know for a fact that these people take this water for granted. I swear, the second I'm finished "saving the world", making sure that all water is as good as this is my number one priority. Even those bottles Dave gave us weren't anywhere near as good. How do you not have to use magic to make it this desirable?!"

"Are you alright in there?" A sudden voice from outside blurted out.

Meteora nearly jumped out of her shoes at the sound of her mother's voice coming through the door, followed by a few quick knocks. She turned her head towards it like she was moving in slow motion and actually told the truth for the first time since she got here.

"Yeah, I'm good." Meteora said. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, hopefully…" Eclipsa mumbled. "But I heard you shouting about water a moment ago and how people take it for granted or something? What was that all about?"

'Oh shit.' Meteora thought, her left eye twitching slightly. 'Not good. Think. Why would I be...wait. How much of that did she hear?'

"Uhh...did you hear anything else besides that?" Meteora asked, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible.

"No, just that part." Eclipsa said. "Are you okay? Do you need...ah, help with anything?"

"No." Meteora said apologetically. "Sorry. I was just...fretting over all of this, you know? Still working through it all. Time-travel stuff."

"Oh. Well yes, I suppose we are all doing that right now." Eclipsa said, a perfect tone of understanding in her voice. "Alright then. But me and your father will be right outside if you need help, so just call us if you need us."

'Oh no. Screw that.' Meteora thought.

"Actually, could you two go to another room?" She asked. "It's just I'm going to take my clothes off and put them outside the door for you to wash later, and I don't want you to be there…" She started getting flustered with her words. "You know what I mean."

"I do. And if that's what you prefer, then we'll be happy to comply." Eclipsa reassured her, wanting Meteora to be as comfortable as possible. "But if you do need help, like I said, just call out for us, and we'll get here as fast as we can."

"Okay." Meteora said. "Thanks Ecl-_mom."_

"You're welcome sweetie." Eclipsa said cheerfully, and with that, Meteora heard the distant sounds of conversation, then footsteps as her parents left the outside room, with a few coos indicating that they took baby Meteora with them.

"Oh thank level five, that was _way _too close." Meteora breathed, once she was sure they were out of earshot. "But seriously, if they were right outside, how the hell did they not hear every word of that?" She glanced at the door and began to sweat. "Hm. Alright. Stop worrying. Even if she was lying and all of it was audible to them, it's not like it was much to go on. I'll just tell them I was quoting lines from my favorite...movie, I think they were called. Yeah. Just something from a movie I saw. Nothing else to it."

After Meteora decided that this was the way she was going to go, she glanced at herself in the mirror again and decided that she better just get the shower over with. Better late than never. That and her parents could probably smell her from the next room over.

Meteora bit her lip and then slowly began to throw all her old clothes off, bundling them up in a makeshift pile and sliding it right outside the door after they were all off. After this however, Meteora started to get anxious. This wasn't right. She felt vulnerable. Like someone might sneak up behind her and stab her in the back at any moment. And after taking a quick glance over her shoulder, she looked down at her body and grimaced after seeing all three large white scars and at least a dozen tiny ones lining, the small ones already beginning to fade. Now that she was fully exposed, she could see all of them at once, and realized just how _damn many _there were. She knew it was a lot, but this was totally asinine. It looked like she had been attacked by a master swordsman trying to keep her alive as long as possible.

Hopefully her mother had given her something that'd cover them all up. Except the most recent one, the one that would require a giant hat to cover. And the covering for this scar was, as she knew it would be, the final barrier to shred. Meteora continued to chew at her bottom lip as she carefully took the bandage placed on her ear and began to unwrap it, expecting a stinging sensation. But she felt nothing. It was like her ear had gone numb. After several boring minutes of her being careful not to rip it for whatever reason, she finally got to inspect the damage for herself.

It was...more or less of what she expected. As Jenkins said, the pointy part was long gone, replaced by a simple layer of skin. It wasn't a scab anymore, as Meteora could feel it hadn't been for a decent amount of time, but she could still see it hadn't fully healed. A few more days, maybe. As for the rest of it, that was fine. Jenkins had cleaned it of blood as best he could, so the rest of her ear looked relatively normal.

She frowned at this permanent loss but silently waved it off to brood about later. Thankfully, it didn't seem to need a bandage anymore, but Meteora wondered if she should have asked for one anyways, so her mother didn't have to set her eyes upon the wound. It _did _look rather painful to anyone that viewed it. But if Eclipsa gasped or started crying/mourned over this, then Meteora wasn't about to stop her. After all, she only believed that Meteora had cut it off by accident with a kitchen knife. A much better explanation than telling her mother she had been shot.

But she could dwell on the ear later. She turned and swung the shower curtain aside before stepping in and staring at the large metal knob attached to the wall. Unlike the sink, Meteora had never seen this type of thing before, although it seemed to be mostly straightforward. A few bottles of what she assumed to be shampoo were on a small shelf, and she began to get worried that she'd empty the whole thing before her hair was clean.

She groaned internally. 'I can't believe we've spent over 2000 words on me trying to figure out how a bathroom works. Surely all that lost time could be spent on something more interesting.'

Probably, but Meteora couldn't be bothered to think about what those things could be right now. She grabbed the shower knob and twisted it to the "hot" setting, bracing herself for a blast of warm water.

Only for her skin to suddenly feel like it had been coated in liquid ice.

She shrieked and stumbled out of the shower, rubbing her skin in shock and staring at the shower like it was a wild animal that had slashed at her.

"So much for hot..." She growled, approaching it again. "Do I have to wait for this thing to warm up? What kind of bullshit is that? How was the sink cold immediately when I turned the knob but it takes awhile for the hot setting to work? Shouldn't it all be stored somewhere pre-heated?"

Meteora knew none of the answers to these questions, and also knew that she wasn't going to receive any unless she asked an actual person. Like the _Voice, _who was missing like always. God, it was never around these days. And by "these days" she meant "one day." But still, it was starting to get irritable. If if came back right now, then maybe she'd finally get some-

Meteora paused mid-thought and realized she was still naked.

'Actually, never mind. _Please _don't come back. That'd be super awkward and I'm just not equipped to deal with it right now. Keep doing whatever in...wherever, and…...and…...you can't hear me.'

Meteora groaned again and gave up on that. She then turned back towards the liquid ice stream and swiped her hand into it, discovering that it was now at an acceptable temperature. She huffed and climbed in again, but still shivered when the water started to coat her body. Not because it was cold, but because of how unfamiliar it was, much like everything else. Depending on how long he was going to stay in this timeline, this might take some getting used to.

But it still felt clean. And made her feel safe. She stood there, closing her eyes and letting her hair get wet as it flopped in front of her face like a rag doll. It felt heavy, like she had been smacked with a solid mass of dirt. She decided to take care of that first before doing anything else. She glanced at the shampoo bottle. It seemed to be pretty straightforward.

And it only took _half _the bottle until her hair felt like it was properly cleansed of filth.

* * *

"So...do you really believe that she lost her ear to that knife?"

"..."

"Yeah, uh, I'm not so sure either. I'm not even sure how-"

"No." Eclipsa deadpanned, interrupting her husband. "No, I don't think that was how it happened."

"Oh." Globgor said, glancing towards the floor like he had done something wrong. He was expecting that response, but not with that type of didn't seem to be mad, but was definitely…...not happy with the way things were going. "Why not?" He continued. "I mean, I understand that some of this is suspicious. The yelling from the bathroom, the way she took five minutes to answer our questions like she was crafting one in her head, those scars I saw poking out from the bottom of her shirt, and her...left ear, which is easily the weirdest thing about this."

"That wasn't a knife wound." Eclipsa confidently, pacing around with her hand to her chin. "The bandage was wrapped tightly enough that I could see a perfect indent of what her ear looks like now, and I can say with certainty that she didn't cut it off by accident. It was more like...somebody literally grabbed the top of her ear and ripped it off, leaving quite the mess behind."

"I sincerely hope that that's _not _what happened." Globgor said, shivering at the mental image. "But why would she lie to us about something like that? How much do you think she's hiding?"

"Considering we barely got any information out of her in the first place, I'd say she's hiding most if not everything she knows." Eclipsa surmised. "That part about the future being "nice" was a blatant lie. Not just in the way she said it, but in the expression she made when you asked her that question." Eclipsa turned towards her husband. "Do you remember what face she made?"

"She looked...scared almost." Globgor recalled. "Like I had brought up a bad memory."

"_Precisely." _Eclipsa said. "Only this wasn't some random bad memory. Her face may have stayed one of terror, but it still changed slightly every minute or so. She was going through multiple memories back then. Flashbacks, almost."

"Flashbacks? Aren't those usually associated with traumatic memories? Like ones that'll give you PTSD?" Globgor asked.

"Yes. And that's exactly what I think was happening to her. Whatever she was reminiscing on, it wasn't good. I swear at one point I thought she was going to cry." Eclipsa enunciated, waving her hand around as she said this. "Whatever state the future is in, it's much worse than what's going on right now. She...she's definitely seen some things."

"Geez…" Globgor said, rubbing a hand over his head. "What do you think even _happened?_ Did monsters get kicked out of Earthni? Did we have a war with the Earth military?"

"I have no idea." Eclipsa said. "Any of those could be it. Although I don't think that monsters getting kicked out of Earthni is likely, considering that everywhere got a little bit of Mewni, according to Jenkins. It would be a planet wide-effort, and...there's really nowhere for us to go if they do that." Eclipsa rubbed her forehead with her hand. "If they wanted to get rid of monsters, they'd have to use genocide, not exile. Like Mina tried to do."

Globgor leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Changing the topic for a second here. How is Jenkins?"

"He's…" Eclipsa paused. "Alright. He's on speaking terms with me, along with most of the Mewnian royalty. Although it's painfully obvious he's still salty about having to clean up our mess. I think they're still burying bodies in some places." She sat down in a chair across from Globgor. "But I always make sure to thank him for what he's done. Without him, Earthni would already be gone. I don't know _what _he said to make the various world leaders stand down, but it certainly did it's job."

"Do you think Earth will ever try to retaliate again?" Globgor asked. "I do believe that at least...29 sectors of Mewni spread across Earth were burned or destroyed before Jenkins could do anything. Do you suppose that'll happen again?"

"It won't." Eclipsa said confidently. "Even the places with a single _tree _from Mewni are under constant surveillance. And the bigger sections are guarded at all times. Not to mention what Jenkins would do to the country that attacked. I believed he mentioned that anyone found causing harm to any part of Earthni would never be "the first to go if another world war ever broke out."

"And that means…?"

"I assume it's stripping them of all their weapons and defenses." Eclipsa said. "Which is a little extreme in my opinion, but I suppose it's a way of showing he's not joking around with any of this."

"Has he _ever _joked about anything?"

"No, I don't think he has." Eclipsa mumbled, before cupping her face with her hands and throwing her hat on a nearby table like a frisbee. "But back to Meteora. I think she does indeed have PTSD from something. Multiple things, in fact. Her ear was not an accident, and I'm willing to bet that that scar you saw was far from the only one she has."

"_That _one actually looked like it came from a knife." Globgor pointed out, before stating the obvious. "Somebody must have attacked her at some point."

Eclipsa grimaced. "And it's our job to find out why. He did say that we're to help with something, did he not?" She asked rhetorically. "I think her flashbacks and the trauma of whatever she's been through is that thing."

"I'm more confused about how she has magic." Globgor said, fluidly changing the subject again. "Apparently she attacked our guards with some kind of light spell."

"Solis." Eclipsa enunciated. "She hit them with a Solis spell. It causes extremely bright light to form from the user's hand. One of the guards told me, and I recognized the name. It was from the spellbook I once read. A quick paragraph, nothing more, but I was able to recall it. Which means that it's still around, despite what we thought, and someone must have taught it to her."

"If she knows magic, then other people in the future have to as well. Maybe even us." Globgor insisted. "Although...considering how many times Star and you checked to make sure that no one could cast spells anymore, I have no idea where she got those abilities from. I get the whole teaching part, but wonder if someone gave the actual power to her...or if she earned them."

"Either way, she knows and that's something we'll have to help her through." Eclipsa said. "But I suppose that really depends on how skilled she is with it. Solis was...or rather, is now a particularly powerful spell in the right hands, but doesn't use much energy to cast, even wandless. A novice could use something like any day of the week."

"If she was any more powerful than that, I think she would have used a stronger spell against those guards." Globgor claimed. "When Meteora ran into me, she almost looked terrified. I don't believe she'd have hesitated to really hurt them if she could. Fear makes people lash out in the most brutal of ways. I'm sure the only reason she didn't attack me was because she recognized me before she could."

"Then I guess that proves it. She isn't that skilled." Eclipsa said, making an assumption much too fast. "But this doesn't get rid of that fact that magic is, again, still around in some usable form. Which should be impossible."

"Maybe the whispering spell just wasn't strong enough." Globgor suggested. "I'm betting there was a small bit left you didn't snuff out."

"But that should _also _be impossible." Eclipsa said. "I saw the entire dimension fall apart before my eyes. I saw the wand disintegrate into dust. My mother's ghost…" Eclipsa got a mourning look in her eyes. "And the ghosts of the rest of the Queens. They were all there. And they all faded away. It really seemed like the end of magic." Eclipsa then huffed and gazed out the window. "But it's not. It's still out there somewhere. And our daughter got a hold of it."

"Yeah, I think that much is obvious." Globgor said. "But I think it's something else. Yeah, you're right. The dimension is gone, and all the magic inside it is gone, so...what if it went somewhere else?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if that wasn't the only source of magic?" Globgor elaborated. "What if there's...another, smaller magic dimension? Like a sub-dimension. Or some god-like being that prevented all of it from dying out for personal reasons? We haven't considered all the options. It could be anything."

Eclipsa nodded and then turned back towards the window. "I suppose the easiest option would be to just ask Meteora herself. But my personal intuition is telling me that it won't be that easy. She may be our daughter, but she is clearly not keen on divulging what she knows."

"I mean, all teenagers hide a few things from their parents. It makes sense that she'd do the same." Globgor said, honestly not wanting to believe his daughter had been raised in such an environment.

"Yes, but _other _teenagers hide things such as boyfriends or girlfriends sneaking into their rooms at night or their search history on that internet thing the humans invented." Eclipsa griped. "Not the literal secrets of the universe."

"How are you so sure she even knows in the first place? Maybe she always had it and only realized it later, without ever learning why…"

"I'm not sure. But we don't have anyone else to turn too here, and Meteora had to learn how to use that magic in the first place." Eclipsa said. "So _we_ have to assume she knows _something_ of value."

"Hmm…" Globgor hummed, before his mind transitioned to something from earlier. "What about the scars? Who...or what do you think did that to her?"

"Being a magic user in the first place grants you a lot of enemies." Eclipsa mumbled. "No doubt she's made plenty of her own in the future. And they seem to be quite adamant on killing her. I have a feeling that whoever damaged her ear like that missed what they were aiming for."

"Or torturing…" Globgor said. "Because is it just me, or does it look like she doesn't get enough food or water? She's thin as bones, and kinda seemed to be the type of person who's constantly hungry. And considering how much the little rascal over here eats…" He picked up baby Meteora from a nearby armchair and cradled her in his arms. "I thought she'd have gained a lot more pounds than that."

"I did notice that she was a lot thinner than I thought she'd be." Eclipsa admitted. "But we shouldn't immediately jump to bad conclusions for that. It could mean a lot of things. Maybe she goes through a phase where she doesn't like to eat much, or she's on a diet and took it too far. There are plenty of possibilities that don't have to have some horrible truth behind them."

"I don't know…" Globgor said, standing up and walking over to his wife. "Not to state the obvious, but something's not right. The ear, how bad she smelled, the horrible state her hair was in, how dirty she was, those…" He started sputtering with his words. "..._finger marks _on her neck like someone was trying to choke her, and now her thinness! If I didn't know better, I'd say she's been living with some pretty dangerous people in a very unsanitary place."

"...What finger marks?" Eclipsa deadpanne, ignoring thay last part and focusing primarily on what Globgor said before it.

"Yo-you didn't notice them?" Globgor asked, bewildered that his wife hadn't taken note of something he thought was easy to see. "They stuck out like a stain on her neck! I wanted to ask her about them, but I didn't get the chance because you arrived with that guard and then she said she wanted to take a break before I could."

"Hold on." Eclipsa said, a horrified expression now painted on her face. "You're saying someone tried to _choke her?"_

"I think so, yeah." Globgor shrugged. "I don't know what else those marks could have been. They were definitely choke marks, and pretty _recent_ ones too…how did you not see them?"

"I...I wasn't paying attention?" Eclipsa stuttered, also bewildered as to how her husband had seen these but she somehow hadn't. "Oh Mewni...I think I'm starting to see why she was sent back here to receive help." Eclipsa sat down in the chair baby Meteora was lying in only a moment ago and shook her head. "Whatever happened...it's severe. Not to mention certainly traumatizing."

"I think _that's _been clear from the start." Globgor chuckled, despite the seriousness of the situation they were in. His smile quickly turned back into a frown and he hugged their child closer to his chest . "What happened to the world that caused Meteora to turn out this way? What does it mean for us? For…" He glanced down at baby Meteora, now sleeping in his arms. "...her."

"I'd say she can tell us that herself when she finishes her shower, but we both know it's not going to be that easy." Eclipsa said. "Whatever secrets Meteora's hiding, she wants to keep them hidden at all costs. Maybe for privacy, or maybe for fear that it might affect her timeline in the future."

"I thought that wasn't how time worked." Globgor stated. "You told me that that Magic Book of spells said so, in the chapter with the "Queen of hours." What was her name again? Starla? Skywin?"

"Skywynne." Eclipsa corrected. "And yes, she discovered that messing with different timelines will not change _your _timeline because they're technically parallel dimensions, not timelines." She rubbed her head and groaned at the repetition. "It's a mess no matter what way you look at it. But the point is that nothing Meteora does here will change her future, but I'm not sure she knows that. If she _is _truly unaware, it would explain her stubbornness in telling us about the future. She simply doesn't want to risk changing it."

"That just makes it even stranger." Globgor pointed out. "I think it's pretty clear by now that Meteora's future is a terrible place, considering the state she was in. I figured she'd _want _to alter a future like that."

"Don't make too many assumptions…" Eclipsa reminded him. "She may only be having a...bad day. I'm still not entirely going with the "future is horrible and everyone is horrible" theory we have. Just because she's dirty and thin doesn't mean the future is hell on Earthni."

"Is this solely because you don't want to believe it?"

"Partly, yes." Eclipsa solemnly admitted. "But only partly. It's mostly because if this Meteora is anything like the one sleeping in your arms, then she likely gets herself into trouble on a daily basis."

"Her hair?"

"Might not be a fan of hygiene growing up. All teenagers are rather rebellious."

"The apparent trauma she's been through?"

"Possibly only an act, a way to gain our empathy since I suspect she still doesn't trust us entirely."

"The choke marks on her neck?!" Globgor tried.

"Ran afoul of a bully?" Eclipsa tried.

"She has magic…"

"..."

"..."

"You just don't want to believe that the future is a terrible place, don't you?" Globgor repeated. "That's the only reason Eclipsa. There's nothing else to it, and you're lying to yourself here."

Eclipsa stared at her husband for a moment and then sighed loudly. "Yes, you're right." She said, admitting defeat. "But I've worked so hard. _We've _worked so hard to help the world. And to think that it might end up like that...I can't bear the thought."

"I'm not criticizing you." Globgor reassured her. "I just wanted you to realize that for yourself, that's all."

"I did. But I didn't want you to know." Eclipsa mumbled.

Globgor laughed again. "Ah, see, now you're turning into Meteora. Guess she's already rubbing off on you." The monster king then sat back down on the bed again, and Eclipsa strolled over and took a seat next to him. "But really, back to what I was saying." He continued. "Meteora's future is in a sorry state. I don't understand why she wouldn't jump for joy at the opportunity to change all that."

"My personal assumption is that she's afraid of making things worse. It is fifteen years later after all." Eclipsa said. "Even if she makes something better for a short while, it could change again in the blink of an eye, like it never made a difference in the first place. Earthni is changing too fast even now, and Meteora must know that. The speed at which it's expanding and contracting and...gaining new allies and enemies is a concern for us all. So over a decade later...I can't even imagine what might have occured in that timespan."

"Well, all of monsterkind was nearly exterminated in less than a _day _back on Mewni thanks to Mina, and considering the weapons that Earth has…" Globgor put his hand together and breathed into them. "I think it's safe to say that the world could have literally ended in the meantime, and Meteora is one of the survivors."

"I believe that's a bit of an exaggeration." Eclipsa said, passing this off. "I've met with the various Earth leaders who knows how many times, and while most of them are _definitely _not fit to be in the positions of power that they are, they wouldn't destroy their own world to wipe us out."

"I never said it was because of them." Globgor said. "I never said that _they _were the ones who destroyed the world. It could have been someone else. Someone who doesn't care if they're destroyed along with everything else."

"...Do you think that's actually what happened?" Eclipsa asked, the question tugging at her mind. "That society collapsed, there was a nuclear war, or something along those lines?"

"I think it's a definite possibility by this point." Globgor said, nodding. "It'd explain why Meteora is so dirty, why she had those scars, and all the trauma she's been through." He sighed and handed baby Meteora over to Eclipsa before stretching himself.. "I'm not saying for sure that the apocalypse is what happened, but it's an explanation that fits with her raggedy appearance and mental state. Because let's be honest, would you let her get that dirty, even if she didn't like taking baths?"

"Never in a million years." Eclipsa assures him. "I'd bathe her myself if it came to it."

"So you understand what I'm saying then?"

"Perfectly." Eclipsa said. "But...it makes me wonder if she's all alone out there. If Earthni really did come to a premature end, and she was forced to wander a fallen world, alone and constantly hungry. Although she did mention Mariposa. Do you think it's possible that…"

"They're surviving together out there?" Globgor said, finishing her sentence. "I could see it happening. Those two are practically sisters after all, considering how often they have play dates with each other. Although I think there has to be at least one other person taking care of them, considering that whenever this apocalypse happened, it was a long time ago, if those scars are anything to go by."

"I'm going with either the future versions of us or Star and Marco." Eclipsa said. "Those two know how to take care of children...to a certain degree. And I'm sure they can handle whatever armageddon throws at them."

"Then...is this our leading theory?" Globgor asked. "That society crumbled and that Star and Marco took care of Meteora and Mariposa?"

"Of course not, we hardly have any evidence for it besides her appearance and our own assumptions." Eclipsa spouted out. "If the world is truly gone, then I think Meteora learning magic would be a complete impossibility, so that sinks the likelihood of this theory being true down even further."

"Then what _is _our leading theory?"

"For now? Nothing really." Eclipsa shrugged. "We still know too little to make a definite conclusion about any of this. Like you and I mentioned, it's been over a decade, and so much could happen in only a single day."

Globgor was about to speak up, but suddenly they both turned their heads at the sound of a high-pitched squeal coming from the direction of the bathroom, sounding like someone had burned themselves.

"Oh no." Globgor said, his eyes widening in worry for his daughter. He got up in a flash to go check on her, but stopped when he felt Eclipsa's hand on his shoulder.

"Don't bother." She said. "That's the sound of a person who just stepped into the shower and got blasted in the face with a stream of freezing cold water."

"Are you sure?" Globgor asked, looking from his wife to the bathroom. "That sounded like she actually hurt herself."

"Yes, I'm sure." Eclipsa said. "Because it's the exact same sound _I _made when it first happened to me. Believe me, she's fine." Eclipsa let go of her husband and turned away. "But that also means she wasn't aware it would happen. Or at least never took a shower before. Either way, she I'm betting that that was the first time she used a normal shower."

"So...that also means..."

"That in the future, she's in a position where she doesn't even have access to normal toiletry." Eclipsa noted. "_That's _why she was so dirty. She never got the chance to properly clean herself anywhere."

Globgor winced. "That apocalypse theory is suddenly becoming a lot more believable.."

Eclipsa grimaced. "If that's actually what's happening, then we have to know everything so we can...no, we have to know everything even _if _it's not the apocalypse. I see now that the future is clearly a disgusting, dirty place filled with dangerous and violent people. Meteora has to tell us how this happened so we can ensure it doesn't happen to our own society."

"But...didn't she come here so we could help _her?" _Globgor pointed out.

Eclipsa froze. He was right. That was why she came here, according to the dream. She wasn't here to help _them_. They had to help her with whatever she was going through, regardless of any problems, current or future, the past was dealing was some kind of weird time-traveling therapy session, not an interrogation. They couldn't force her to spill the beans. Not like this.

"I…" Eclipsa started. "She did. And you're correct. We have to help. If we just focus on our timeline, then we'll come off as selfish to her. If that happens, it'd be a very bad introduction to her parents, considering that I didn't believe she's met the future version of us besides when she was young as this one."

"I get what you mean." Globgor said, nodding along. "The way she stared at me when we first locked eyes...it was like I was a stranger to her. Familiar, but still a stranger. Like meeting a person you're heard about but never actually met."

Eclipsa nodded, having received the exact same glance from Meteora when they met face to face earlier. "This is going to be tricky…" She whispered. "But I know what to do. We keep asking. She's never going to tell us if we don't. We give her as much time as she needs. Give her a bed, give her some food, treat her like our _daughter_ and welcome her into the house...templehold. Do anything we can to make her feel comfortable."

"And after that?"

The Queen stilled, placed baby Meteora on the bed, and then strolled over to the window before gripping the edges of it, overlooking the town and it's thousands of people, all of them living out their lives, ignorant of the events currently happening inside the Monster Temple

"Whatever we can."

And so they waited.

* * *

"Stop slipping...stop slipping around you stupid...argh!"

With a soft _thud, _the bar of soap that Meteora had been holding slipped out of her grip and fell to the shower floor, before sliding over to the drain and staying there. She growled and glared at the bar with an intense hatred, with the object being the current, and at the moment, only focus of her anger. She had half a mind to just shred the stupid with her claws, but she knew her parents wouldn't approve of that. So that left her stuck trying to pick it up the normal way, only for its slippery surface to take full effect, causing her to drop it and then curse, over and over again.

This had been going on for a full twenty minutes.

After cleaning her hair with the now half-empty shampoo bottle (which took thirty), Meteora had tried to wash the rest of herself with the soap bar, only to fail miserably. Eventually she gave up and was now trying to get a good hold on it so she could simply put it back where it belonged, but that was also an impossibility. This was basically her first time handling anything this slippery (or slippery at all for that matter), so it would be fair to say that Meteora was rather inexperienced in the field.

And now, looking down at the soap bar stuck in the drain once again, she decided to just leave it. It's not like the bathroom would explode. Although she _was _five seconds away from casting a spell in order to do so, desperate to take her anger out on something.

But her magic was still drained by a substantial amount, so that wasn't an available option. Instead she wiped some hair out of her face and sat down on the shower floor, letting the water flow over her aimlessly as she vanished all thoughts of soap from her mind and pondered over her next move.

'I have to tell them.' She thought. 'Eventually, I _have _to tell them. Earlier I thought that it'd be best if I waited to gauge what their reaction might be if I let the truth out, but now it's obvious that that is inevitable either way. They're not stupid Meteora. They're your fucking _parents. _They know their own child, even grown up. It's not like they don't know if you're lying…'

Meteora gazed at the floor, water hanging off her eyelashes and resulting in her vision blurring. Not that there was anything to see. Her parents could come bursting into the bathroom at the moment and she wouldn't notice. Her mind had a steel lock covering it after the soap incident, temporarily protecting her from the BS of the outside world, and Meteora wasn't going to do any safe-cracking until she figured things out. For good, this time.

'But it's not like I can blurt it out!' She whined internally. 'How'd that go? Hey mom and dad, I know you technically just met me and really don't know a single bit of information about my life, but guess what? In the future, the world ends and I almost die on a daily basis! Getting attacked by evil magic priests, demons from hell, and ruthless scavengers who'll kill you as soon as they see something you have that they don't. And this knife wound on my ear? It's actually a bullet wound! Now, how about we talk about how many people I've murdered! Should be a fun time!'

Meteora paused after this lengthy and over-exaggerated fantasy, as if silently chiding herself for thinking like that and imagining something that'd never come to pass.

'Get ahold of yourself.' She thought. 'If you say it like that, they'll think you're a psychopathic killer. Which…I guess I sorta can be at times, all things considered? Or does that for Mari better? Which one of us is the more insane?'

'...'

'Definitely Mari.' Meteora thought, recalling her flashback from earlier. 'And probably Jenkins too. And...Janna. And...oh whatever. We're all a little crazy by this point. The fact that Jenkins has managed to hold it together for as long as he has is nothing short of a miracle, and Mari's killing spree all those years ago is proof enough that she was never right in the head straight off. As for me...I think I'm going to turn decently insane soon, if things keep getting more confusing, with more and more questions popping up for me to ask, of which there are already about a _billion _of!'

Meteora groaned and played with her hair for a moment, twirling it around in her hand like a loose piece of string. As she felt the texture of it on her fingers, no longer grainy but rather smooth and soft, it suddenly dawned on her just how long it was. Normally she had a hairstyle that didn't naturally hang down in front of her face but rather stayed upwards, and she could almost position it anyway she wanted like a piece of clay. Meteora thought it was some weird trait she inherited from her monster side, although she knew deep down that it was just the hundred layers of soft dirt ingrained into it, turning the whole thing into a semi-solid mess.

But regardless, her hair had never been much of a bother for her. The last time she had received a haircut was the same time she took her most recent bath, roughly half a decade ago. This was due to the fact that it was now too thick to cut properly without something akin to a katana, and since they also hadn't gotten an opportunity to bathe since then, Jenkins just let it be and stopped caring. As did she.

But now, after getting it wet and cleaning it all off, it was more like a thin mop, reaching past her shoulders and practically obscuring her vision if she didn't throw behind her head. That would have to be fixed soon. Preferably with a good pair of scissors. Or some gardening shears.

Meteora huffed at the idea and grabbed the whole mass of hair before throwing it over her shoulder, spraying water across the wall and finally giving her a clear line of sight. The lock had been broken. She came back to the real world, unperturbed by its BS. Meteora shook her hair around like a wet dog, stood up, and twisted the shower knob again. The stream of warm water vanished and began to drip onto the floor, while Meteora reached outside the curtain and grabbed the nearest towel before wrapping it around herself like a blanket.

Sitting back down again, she cringed at the cold feeling of her hair falling down her bare back, as well as the equally chilling air invading every free space she could think of. She knew that she could get dry relatively quickly, but she didn't want to. Her parents said they'd give her as much time as she needed, so she was going to use that claim to its full power, even if it meant being cold.

'I'm not even sure what to think anymore.' She thought. 'I don't think any of us do. This is all too weird even for me, and for them...I can't even imagine what they're feeling. I should just get up now. Stop wasting their time. At this point, I bet they're tired of waiting for me. Because how long have I been in here? A half-hour?A full hour? Something like that?" She glanced upwards at the faucet. "And I don't think that hot water had an infinite supply either…'

Meteora took the towel and started actively drying herself, her joints feeling sweet relief as she wiped all the water off them and stretched them out, slight cracking noises filling her ears as she loosened herself up. Meteora felt the sudden urge to sleep emerging from this action, but she waved it off and climbed out of the shower, still rubbing individual strands of her hair with the towel. But even after it was dry it still hung down. Meteora frowned and guessed that that was something she'd have to get used too for a while. She hung the towel up on a nearby rack (after scrunching it up into a ball, unaware of how the folding process was supposed to be done), and stepped in front of the mirror again.

She wasn't sure what to say. Her hair was now like Mari's, only longer and with more strands. It was an odd look. But it certainly _felt _better. No more dirt. No more grime. She hadn't felt like this in so long that the sensation was almost entirely alien to her.

But once she returned to the future, it might only take a few days time for that feeling to disappear for years to come.

Meteora quickly grabbed the new set of clothes her mother had given her, unable to spend any more time focusing on depressing thoughts. She slipped them all on one at a time without even giving them a proper inspection, not caring if they made her look ridiculous or not. Meteora wasn't about to refuse a free set of clothes. Especially ones that felt a thousand times more comfortable than her own.

After Meteora finished putting them on she stood still for a few moments, testing to see how they felt. But once she started taking a few steps and even jumped once or twice like she was trying on a new pair of shoes (which she technically was, Eclipsa had provided her with some Velcro sneakers), she realized that they didn't feel particularly...comfortable. Which made absolutely zero sense, considering that-

'No…' Meteora contemplated. 'No. No, it makes perfect sense. It's the same thing with the beds. I can't stand how those big soft mattresses feel beneath me. Something always tells me it isn't right. Years of sleeping on the ground and on rocks really allowed me to get used to doing that. And these clothes...they're uncomfortable to me because I never got used to how they felt. The way they're _supposed _to feel is just...dead to me.'

Meteora shuddered as this continued, before she slapped herself several times and received a mental reminder of what was going on. Much more important things than internally complaining about the quality of her clothes. It was an issue to think about later. She grabbed her hair and tossed it over her shoulder again, hoping that her mother could later tie it into a braid or ponytail or something so she didn't have to keep doing that. Not that Meteora was a fan of either of those hairstyles, as she personally thought they looked weird, but it was a better alternative than having to constantly move it around so she could actually see.

Or she could just cut the whole thing off...

But as for now, she opened the door to the bathroom and was thankfully greeted with the empty laundry room her father had led her too that opened into the bathroom. Just like she requested, neither of them were waiting for her outside. She moved forward and headed back towards their bedroom, having memorized the route they took earlier. But it wasn't long until she got distracted, since now that she was no longer being chased by a swarm of angry guards or following her parents around, Meteora finally had a chance to properly explore the Temple when it was still in its prime.

She walked through the halls, turning corners and going up staircases like she somehow already knew the entire layout of the place in her head. Meteora was aware that she shouldn't have a clue as to where she was going besides the path from the bedroom to the bathroom, but for some reason, now that she was alone and everything wasn't scorched or cracked to hell, it all felt so...familiar.

Eventually she reached another staircase, this one leading into the depths of the Temple, a newly installed lightbulb hanging on one of the walls. Meteora could hear some stereotypical skittering and dripping noises coming from the bottom of it, which was too dark to see. But she had dealt with things like rats before, and a few drops of cold water wouldn't faze her after the disaster that was her first attempt at showering. Meteora shrugged and started descending the staircase, the stone beneath her feet feeling like it hadn't been stepped on in years.

The further down she went, the darker it got, and Meteora started to regret not just going back to her parents and inspecting this later. But curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she couldn't help herself. It was almost like she _needed _to see what was down there. However, once Meteora reached a point where she could hardly see her hand in front of her face, she decided that enough was enough.

"Okay. Magic time." She said to herself, raising her arm up in the air. "I better have the amount I need to do this...because otherwise I'm going to break my neck going up _and _down these damn steps."

Meteora took a deep breath and closed her eyes, as per usual. "Solis." She said calmly, and a mildly bright light erupted from her hand, illuminating the area and giving her a perfect sense of where she was. Meteora sighed in relief, although was confused when she saw that it was much less brighter than usual. After it started flickering like a candle, Meteora figured that her magic must have already been at a rather low point, so she needed to hurry if she was going to spend any more time surrounded by darkness. She hurriedly (but carefully) rushed the rest of the stairs until a landing appeared, along with an opening into a much bigger room. Meteora struggled but persisted to keep her hand lit as she entered the larger space, knowing that if it went out here, her only option might be to call for help.

"Whoa…"

This was certainly new. Although she vaguely recognized the ruined room from the future Temple, the old version was absurdly different. The one _she _saw was crusty, old, colorless, and boring in the extreme. She spent less than a minute or so there before moving on, as a few statues had caught her eye in the next room over.

But this room was something else. The walls were abound with all sorts of colors and drawings, as well as pillars that had intricate carvings on them. Meteora made them out after a second, and realized that the paintings (were they paintings or mosaics? She couldn't quite tell) on the walls were of _her. _One had her mother carrying what was clearly baby her. Another appeared to display her father. And a third that might have been just her?

"Is this...my room?" She asked, noting how it all seemed to be rather Meteora-themed. She continued to wave her hand around until she saw the light cast a large shadow on the opposite wall. She turned, and there, in the corner, was a plain wooden crib with the name Meteora crudely carved onto it.

"Holy…" She said, now filled with newfound interest. "This _was _my room. But...why am I getting the most odd sense of deja-vu from it? Like...deja-vu from getting deja-vu. Did a past version of me make the exact same discovery or something?"

Before she could contemplate on that however, the magic in her body forced itself to turn it before it caused harm to her, and the light went out, trapping Meteora in the now darkness again.

"Damn it!" She cursed, smacking her arm with her opposite hand like it was a lagging computer. The light reappeared for a split second after she concentrated on it coming back into being again, but then faded. She was out of magic, and was now dangerously aware of how fast her heart was going. She made a "tch" sound and dropped to the floor, something Jenkins told her to do if she found herself in a situation like this. Meteora stayed crawling on her hands and knees one inch at a time, feeling around for anything. She tried to slowly make her way back to the stairs, but eventually lost track of where she was, and soon all sense of direction had been erased from her mind.

"Oh my god…" She whined. "Why didn't I just go back to my parents? Why did I have to go exploring? And why are there no lights down here?! You think the darkest room in the Temple would at least have something installed!"

"_What the hell is going on now?"_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Meteora shrieked, jumping to her feet and widely swinging her arms and legs around like she was being attacked. "Get away! Get the hell away from me!"

"_Meteora! Meteora, it's me!" _The Voice yelled, desperately trying to calm her down. "_There's no one attacking you from the dark! Stop freaking out!"_

"Wha...who...oh. Oh, it's you. Thank level five." She said, breathing a sigh of relief. She sat back down, panting from the sudden spike in adrenaline she just got. "Sorry. I completely forgot you existed."

"_Evidently…" _The Voice said, now sounding confused. "_But...what is going on? Where are we?"_

"Of course you don't know." Meteora complained. "No, I'm asking the questions first. Where have _you _been?"

"_Inside your head. Where else?"_

Meteora groaned. "Doing _what?_"

"_...Working." _The Voice said unconvincingly.

"Okay, you know what, we can argue about that later, or never, because I feel like you're not going to elaborate on that." Meteora deduced. "So I'll just tell you what's going on so you don't have to go searching through my memories and you can help me with what to do next. Because your advice is the one thing I've been missing this whole time except for Mari and Jenkins, who...hopefully aren't too worried about me." She hoped, despite knowing full well that they were.

"_Sounds like...a half-decent plan, I guess." _

"You don't get to whine about that." Meteora said. "You haven't been here for the past couple of hours, and I _really _needed you during those. But as for what's been happening during those hours, is this. Somehow, I got teleported from Ery's hit to the monster temple. There I met my mom, fled, almost blinded some guards, met my dad, then the two of us talked for a while abo stuff, I got a couple horrendous flashbacks, excuses myself, took a shower for the first time so now my hair is always blocking my _face-" _Meteora brushed some of it aside again as if to empathize her point. "...found this room afterwards, and now we're here. In the dark. Alone."

"_..."_

"Yeah, it's all pretty weird." Meteora said, having expected a silent response after that. "And I'm guessing you don't have any idea as to what's going on?"

"_...No." _The Voice said. "_But teleported you say? Are you sure you didn't travel through time again?"_

"No, but I think it's pretty safe to assume." Meteora stated. "The time periods at Ery's hut and the one here matchup with each other. Even if I did go through time again, it's only been a few months or even weeks at most."

"_Interesting…" _

"Yeah, now, what do we do?" Meteora asked impatiently. The Voice may not have been back for long, but that didn't mean she was going to go easy on it. Whatever it had been doing, it has taken way too much time.

"_Give me a minute." _The Voice said, and Meteora instantly knew what it was going to say next. "_I need to-"_

"Oh no no no!" Meteora exclaimed. "You are not disappearing again! Stay right fucking here!" She swore, stomping one of her feet down as the sound of her voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"_I'm not going anywhere." _The Voice claimed, sounding like it was rolling its eyes. "_Just thinking to myself and planning our next move. Something that you should be doing. As a start, try and get us out of the dark."_

Meteora sighed. "That's gonna take a while. I'm walking...well, crawling really, blind here, and I don't have any magic left to create another Solis spell. The one I was using literally shut itself off a few minutes after I cast it."

"_It...shut itself off?"_

"Yeah." Meteora said. "Why, is that bad?"

"_I...no, no, it shouldn't have been able to-"_

"Meteora! Are you down there?" Another sudden voice called out, which Meteora recognized as her mother's. Desperate, worried, and full of emotion. She breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that she was finally being rescued and cupped her hands to her mouth.

"I'm here!" She shouted. "I can't see anything though! I'm stuck in the dark!"

A brief silence followed, until the sound of her father's voice rang out. "Okay!" He said. "Give us a minute! Stay there and don't move! We'll get a light" His voice then softened slightly, as if he was no longer speaking directly to Meteora, but she could still hear it. "See, I told you we should have installed a light down there after the old one broke."

"I'd never thought we'd used that room again!" Eclipsa claimed. "It was too dangerous down there. The ceiling always looks like it's about to collapse…"

Anything else they said faded as they moved further away from the staircase, and Meteora sat down again and waited for them to return, thoroughly embarrassed for getting herself stuck like this.

"Fantastic." She said. "This was a gigantic waste of time."

"_Probably. But now is not the moment to fret over that. First things first, how long has it been since you arrived here?"_

"A couple hours." Meteora replied, twirling her hair in her fingers again. "I fell asleep at Ery's hut, and woke up here. That's all I know."

"_Did you have any odd dreams?"_

"None that I can remember."

The Voice made a sound of exasperation, like it was hoping for something better. "_What was your plan before I arrived?"_

"Honestly? Don't tell them the truth until I'm completely sure it's okay to do so." Meteora answered. "But even now I'm not so sure anymore. I only picked that one because while I'm pretty sure these are my parents, I can't take the risk that something else might be going on. I just wanted to be cautious."

"_Good, good…" _The Voice said. "_I think we should stick with that until something else comes up. Regardless of whether you're sure about it or not."_

"What? You don't have a plan?" Meteora asked.

"_Not at the moment, no. Because I don't know what's going on either. I have literally been here for nothing more than a few minutes, and the only description of what's been going on in the meanwhile was a hastily thought up one by you."_

"...That's fair." Meteora admitted. "But like I said, please don't leave during any of this, even if you're more clueless than I am. I can't deal with you disappearing again."

"_I won't." _The Voice promised. "_Definitely not now. Now during this. But in the meantime, what do your parents already know? What have you told them?"_

"They know I can use magic, and they know I'm from the future." Meteora shrugged. "That's kinda it. We didn't talk much before I excused myself."

"_The future part...did they just assume or did you inform them of that fact?"_

"They already knew." Meteora answered.

The Voice was clearly taken aback by this. "_They...they what?"_

"Somehow they already knew I was from the future, _and _that I was coming." Meteora said. "I don't know how, I think someone told them, but obviously it proves that me arriving here was no mistake. Something...or some_one, _caused it to happen."

"_...Five minutes."_

"What?"

"_I'm going to leave for five minutes."_

Meteora almost choked on nothing. "Like hell!" She shouted. "You literally just promised-"

"_Five minutes only!" _The Voice shouted back. "_That's it. After that, I'll return. But if some level three, or God forbid, level four sent us here, then we have to know why."_

Meteora growled incomprehensibly and then threw her arms up in the air. "Fine!" She yelled. "Fine fine fine! Five minutes. Five fucking minutes _only. _Figure it out. But after that…"

"_I understand. See you."_

"Yeah. _See you." _Meteora scoffed, and she was once again left alone. She let out some zombie-esque moan of annoyance and lay flat on her back, staring at nothing even if she wasn't surrounded by darkness.

"This day just keeps getting better and better…" She said sarcastically, just as the sounds of her parents returning with a battery-powered lantern filled the room...

**End chapter 37**

**A/N: Yeah, that shower scene was long as hell. But it was made to really emphasize just how new all this stuff is to Meteora. Every action is something she hasn't done before, and that takes time. The Voice is back and gone, but will be much more prevalent next chapter. And Eclipsa and Globgor aren't as gullible as it seems.**

**But hey, at least Meteora has a new hairstyle. And this one she'll keep for a while...**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	38. Chapter 38: A Sky and Sea of starlight

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 38**

**A Sky and Sea of starlight**

"Arise, Mariposa."

"..."

"Arise, Mariposa."

"..."

"Arise, Mari-oh screw it, WAKE THE HELL UP HUMAN!"

"OW!" A pained voice called out, belonging to the mouth of one 15-year-old girl. Mariposa's eyes shot open and her right hand immediately started rubbing her cheek, trying to get rid of the stinging sensation that felt like carpet burn.

"What the hell?" She said angrily and groggily, holding her hand to the red mark like an ice-pack. Mariposa blinked a few times to try and get her eyes to adjust to the surrounding darkness, to some effect. "Did someone just slap me?"

She growled and clambered up off the ground, confused as to why she was laying down in the first place. Mariposa quickly checked her surroundings, making sure that there wasn't anyone else around. And surprisingly, despite what the pain in her cheek was telling her, there wasn't. It was all still the same. The tapestry room hadn't changed a bit, except for the fact that it was now devoid of light. There was no one else besides here. She was still completely and entirely alone.

"What in…" She said, double-checking every dark corner, the backs of the tapestries, and even the ceiling, making sure to spot her attacker before they had a chance to strike again. But despite her expectations, not a single soul showed itself to her, making the question of who had smacked her even more ambiguous.

"Great." Mariposa said. "Someone doesn't want to come out. Makes this all the more irritating. Alright. Show yourself!" She yelled. "I know I wasn't dreaming, so there's no point in trying to convince me I was or...whatever. Stop playing hide and seek."

No reply. The only thing she heard was the sound of her own breathing, which compared to the silence that the rest of the room held, was deafening. She scoffed and whipped out her knife, holding in a crude stabbing position. "Okay." She announced. "You had your chance. When I find you, I'll chop off whatever hand you slapped me with, and _then _we'll talk."

Mariposa then took a deep breath and set off into the main castle, knowing that the assailant had to be nearby. Each footstep she took was perfectly aligned with the part of the floor that made the least noise, although this caused her to be taking one every five seconds, something that severely hindered her speed. Hopefully this person hadn't just run away, because at this rate she'd never catch up.

Although the further Mariposa went, the more she noticed that something was off. It wasn't like there was a specific part of the castle that seemed mismatched or wrong, but it was more like _everything _was not how it was supposed to be. It wasn't like she saw something with her eyes, it was more of a gut feeling. One she couldn't shake off.

'What's going on?' She thought, her eyes darting all over the place. 'What's this feeling I'm getting? Like the dread that's something about to go horribly wrong. Am I walking towards a trap? What's wrong with me? What's wrong with the environment?'

Unfortunately, the answer to all these questions was stupidly obvious, and Mariposa only realized it when she came upon a large hole in a nearby wall, oddly shaped, almost like it had been carved by a professional.

'What the...what's this doing here?' She asked herself, inspecting the opening. 'That definitely wasn't made by the bomb. It's too perfect...too clean..too rectangular...too...wait. Wait a damn second.'

Mariposa took a closer look at the hole, or rather, a closer look at what lay outside of it. At first she thought she saw nothing but darkness, but when she glanced towards her sky, the multiple moons of Earth caught her eye, as well as a vast shining field of stars.

It was nothing but a window.

And she only thought the castle looked wrong because she hadn't realized it was night.

"Oh, this is embarrassing…" She mumbled, almost hitting herself in the face before remembering that she was still holding that knife. But she ignored the humiliation she felt and gripped the edges of the window, looking at the town and wondering why the sight was so alien to her. Was it the darkness? The only light was from the stars and the moons above, which were partially hidden by some clouds. If she squinted, Mariposa could see the outlines of a couple of intact buildings, but even then they were barely discernible. If she closed her eyes it wouldn't make much difference. There hadn't been any sort of man-made light in this place for more than a decade, and it was like the darkness had ingrained itself into the structures.

But...it wasn't the dark. It was just that she expected it to look different. She had never seen the town like this after all. They had only ever slept on the ground during the night. Jenkins didn't want them to go to places like the Monster Temple or the Butterfly castle after the sun set, due to the fact that they could easily run into something and hurt themselves. Mariposa wasn't sure how that was different than running into something and hurting herself at ground level at night, but both her and Meteora respected his wishes and stayed away. Better not to risk it and run smack into a pillar they thought was an exit.

Although looking back, that was kind of dumb, considering that for the most part, both buildings were looted and empty...

She sighed and rested her elbows on the window ledge, some wind blowing past and chilling her arms. Mariposa hardly even flinched at the cold sensation, instead focusing on the sky again. The clouds had just moved out of the way, allowing the majority of the moonlight to shine down on the town below. It was still dark as hell, sure, but she had a much better view now. The light beams exposed the dust and dirt particles in the air, looking almost like snow that was floating in place instead of falling. Years later, it was all still hanging there, the last remnants of debris kicked up from the initial explosion. Mariposa figured that it would have fallen to Earth by now, but she honestly preferred if it didn't. It was almost...pretty. Gave everything a rather odd aesthetic.

Then the light reached the town and illuminated small portions of it, twisted metal glinting under the sudden luminosity as the dark cowered away from it all.

But the small amount of cowering the light caused was still minuscule compared to how the rest of the town still resembled a giant void, devoid of life and light and hope. The moons, again, only allowed small parts of the town to be covered in their brightness, while the rest was invisible and hidden from view. A small piece of pavement here, a broken-down car there, but this was as far as it got. The dark greedily swarmed over the rest, refusing to lose any more ground. Mariposa grimaced the longer she stared at it, getting a feeling that it was trying to tell her something.

'It's almost like a sick metaphor.' She thought, silently taking it all in. 'This is the world. That's what the town is. So much of it is dark. Dead. Dying. Or just plain lost to time. And those little gleaming patches...that's us. The survivors. The last lights of hope in this sea of darkness. And every day those clouds cover the moons more and more as we keep snuffing ourselves out in a fight for the last few remaining supplies. And I guess it won't be long until those clouds just...cover it up entirely.'

Mariposa frowned at her own depressing thoughts, chiding whatever part of her brain allowed them to come into being. If she wanted to make herself feel sad, she could just hang out in the courtyard with all the skeletons and think about who they used to be. _That'd _make for a fun time.

But instead she sighed and walked away from the window. As tempting as it was, she couldn't spend all night stargazing. Jenkins was probably looking for her anyways. It was only mid-day when she arrived in the tapestry room, so for her to be gone that long…

It was safe to say that he was freaking out even more right now. Or still trashing the office. Probably both.

Mariposa leaned away from the window and walked back down the hallway, once again taking care not to trip over anything, using the wall for support to feel where she was going. Her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, if only enough so that she was ninety-nine percent blind instead of one hundred.

Still, it was better than not being able to see at all. Jenkins had told them a few times in the past to always make sure to protect their eyes during a fight, because if they got injured, it's not like he had any kind of special drops of equipment to heal them. Something happening that caused her to go blind was a rather big fear of Mariposa's, because if it happened, she'd be rendered useless for all time. What would they even _do _after that? Give her a stick to tap around with? It's not like that was really a desirable option. A stick would protect her against bumping into something, but not the hundreds of other dangers the Wastes brought with it. She'd never fight again. She'd never get to actually _see_ her brother, her parents, or anyone else like that.

And hell, Jenkins might have to carry her around on his back half the time! So much of the terrain was bombed or jagged or burned to hell that a blind person would never be able to traverse through it, even with a stick. It'd be like the old days when Meteora whined to be carried sometimes like a little kid. And even _worse_, it-

"Okay, time to derail that thought train." Mariposa said to herself. "Wastes enough time here thinking about stuff that won't happen if I actually paid attention to what was going on." She ran her hands over her scalp. "I should just...find Jenkins and figure out what to do next."

Easier said than done however. As Mariposa clambered against the walls while trying to find her way out, a small part of her said that she should just lay down for the night and sleep right here. Which honestly, was a much safer option than wandering around in the dark and potentially tripping over something or falling out a window she failed to spot.

But Mariposa didn't want to. Jenkins was out there, probably searching for her, and she didn't want him to think that _both _of his foster daughters had run off. He'd probably think it was his fault and kill himself from grief, and that wasn't even an exaggeration. Considering how protective he was of them, Mariposa figured that if they died, then he had nothing left. He might not even bother going to the settlement a hundred miles away, because what would he tell them? That the two of them were killed and/or missing, and it was all his fault?

Eclipsa certainly wouldn't be happy. Not to mention what her brother might do to him. And the thoughts of all these things happening simply because Meteora ran off and Jenkins thought she had followed her…

It drove out the urge to sleep entirely. Stomped it out of existence like an ant beneath a boot. She would have preferred if it had magically gotten rid of the darkness (like that light spell Meteora babbled on about one time) but that was obviously a bit too much to ask for, and nothing happened. So Mariposa sighed again, shook her head, and walked on.

Unaware of the presence following her every move.

* * *

In another place, another time, there was someone else currently shouting into the darkness. This person was closely related to Mariposa, and...oh forget it. You already know who we're talking about, don't you?

"Meteora!" Eclipsa's voice called out, practically sounding angelic in nature after what felt like hours of waiting. "Are you still down there?"

'Of course I am, where the hell else would I go?' Meteora thought, although she knew she couldn't say that. But she definitely wanted to. This whole thing had been one giant mess, and that was putting it lightly. Her parents had found her and then left a second later to go get a light, but apparently, that was a lot easier said than done, as they had returned with a battery-powered lantern that went out before they even made it halfway down the stairs, prompting them to run off again to find another light. And it was another _half-hour _before they came across an old torch that used to light the building before they installed modern Earth lights. Meteora wasn't sure why they didn't already have something like an extra flashlight lying around, but she was too tired to think about it further. Right now, she just wanted to get out of this room.

Footsteps were heard coming down the same set of stairs that she had foolishly descended earlier, but they were much faster and frantic than hers had been. Meteora felt an urge to warn them not to go too fast, lest they trip and break their necks, but the words refused to leave her mouth. Ironically, despite how much water she had drunken earlier, her mouth was now so dry that it may as well be filled with chalk dust.

"I told you that lamp ran out of batteries three months ago!" She heard Eclipsa say, clearly upset with her father. "Why did you insist on trying to use it?"

"Because I thought that batteries had an extra charge that turned on in emergencies!" Globgor responded. "I read about it online."

"Dear, please do not believe something you read about online again." Eclipsa requested. "I have been using the internet since day...five, and I say with certainty that most of it is a cesspool of despair and lies."

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?"

"Because of the technology class we were taught?!" Eclipsa exclaimed. "We literally have one every other week, and "internet safety" took up a whole course!"

"Mom...dad...please stop fighting." Meteora mumbled, although she was still too far away from them to hear it. 'Is this what having real parents is like?' She thought. 'Constant arguments? I thought when two people loved each other they were supposed to...love each other. Did I come at a bad time or something and they've just been hiding it until now?'

"_You didn't come at a bad time Meteora." _The Voice interjected. "_It's natural for people to fight like this. Even over petty things like lamps."_

"Did...did you just read my mind?" Meteora asked nervously, as she was pretty sure that she hadn't said that aloud. "I _know _I kept that one to myself."

"_No. I just suspected that's what you were thinking." _The Voice reassured. "_I cannot literally read your mind. You should know that by now."_

"Sure you can't…" Meteora muttered.

"_It's the truth."_

"That word doesn't mean a lot nowadays." Meteora coughed. "But whatever. Can you tell me what you found earlier now? When you came back after leaving for those five minutes, _and thanks for actually keeping your word on that one by the way, _you said that you'd tell me later. So...can you spill the beans?"

"_It's been a half-hour. Do you really think that qualifies as "later"?"_

"A second after you said that would have "qualified", if we're going by the actual definition." Meteora pointed out.

"_Quite." _The Voice scoffed. "_But no. I need some more time to think about what I discovered. And it'd be best to tell you while we're alone."_

"Alone?!" Meteora growled. "We've been alone for the past thirty fucking minu-"

"_Yes, but it might take a while to explain, and I didn't know when your parents were coming back!" _The Voice interjected. "_Sorry, but that's the way things have to be."_

"Now it just sounds like you're making excuses." Meteora seethed. "But if you're not going to tell what it is directly right now, can you at least tell me if you found out why?"

"_Why for what?" _The Voice asked. "_Because I was investigating a lot of "why" questions in those five minutes."_

"Uh…" Meteora paused. That was actually a fair statement. There _were _a lot of "why" questions right now. Why she had been thrown into the past like this, why she had landed in northern Canada, why she had been teleported to the Monster Temple, why she wasn't _dead _from using all that magic…

Just to list a few. But she supposed that the Voice didn't know the answer to most of not all of them, judging by the way that it had sounded disappointed in itself since it returned. However, she figured a good start would be why she wasn't dead yet, as the Voice had been looking into that one for hours back when she was still at the hut.

"Why am I not dead yet?" She asked. "I used the Solis spell two times now, yet all it's done is make me slightly weaker like it normally does. I thought you said I was supposed to die if I spent more than like...five seconds in the past! What is up with that?"

"_I think your magic went into a type of failsafe mode." _The Voice said.

"And that means...what?"

"_It means I have a question for you first. After you cast those Solis spells, how long did it take for your magic to recharge? I know you can feel how much you have in supply, in a way. A skill I'm surprised you developed this early on."_

"Yeah...kinda." Meteora said. "But it takes a _lot _longer than usual to recharge. Like, an hour ago, when I used the second Solis to try and find my way around her, it sputtered out after a few minutes. Shut off by itself."

"_Yes, that's an occurrence that I'm also investigating…" _The Voice mumbled. "_But why do you think that is?"_

"Being in the past...is somehow affecting my magic?" Meteora suggested. "Is this that failsafe you were talking about?"

"_Yes." _The Voice said. "_Right now, my personal theory is that the magic inside of you was aware you were about to die the second you entered the past. Therefore, in order to protect you, it stored a large portion of the magic you had in your body and has been trying to keep you alive that way. That's why you haven't been able to cast many spells. The magic won't allow you too because the small amount you have left is literally fighting for your survival. It's feeding the time-travel spell one scrap of itself at a time, keeping it at bay from striking at your heart and killing you."_

"...So...what you're saying is…" Meteora mumbled, furrowing her brows. "The magic is sacrificing parts of itself to keep me alive or whatever? How can it even do that without me knowing?"

"_Magic is not non-sentient." _The Voice said. "_It is aware of things. Of events, of people, and it is especially aware when something is trying to kill it. If you died, then the magic in your body would cease to exist. It knows that, and when it realized you were dying, it panicked and took action because it was aware you wouldn't be able to stop it in time yourself."_

"Now it just sounds like you're making stuff up."

"_Maybe I am, and I have a dozen alternate motives, most of which end in the destruction of all life on the planet." _The Voice deadpanned.

"...Was that supposed to be a joke?"

"_Yes."_

"You _might _wanna work on that." Meteora said, rolling her eyes. "But okay. I'm alive because of magic scrap bullshit. Although I suppose that pretty accurately describes that last month of my life, right?"

"_Pretty much." _The Voice agreed. "_But this means that we can't stay here for an infinite amount of time. Eventually, the spell will break through, use your normal body to power the spell, and then you'll croak in seconds."_

"Sounds like fun." Meteora said sarcastically, a fake smile spreading across her face. "So how long do we have until that lovely little event happens?"

"_A while." _The Voice said confidently. "_Enough that we should be able to find out why the spell took us to this timeline and if we can get back safely. I'll admit, that magic is certainly doing its job keeping that spell at bay. It's desperate to keep you alive."_

"And what's the difference between magic and spells again?" Meteora asked. "I don't think you ever explained that to me. If a spell is _made _of magic, then how can that _same _magic be holding the spell back?"

"_Now you're asking questions that keep me up at night."_

"You don't sleep."

"_That wasn't meant to be taken literally." _The Voice sighed. "_But it goes something like this. Magic consists of many different elements. Regular magic, dark magic, demon magic-"_

"Demon magic?" Meteora asked, raising an eyebrow.

"_Something for later." _The Voice said. "_But all those different varieties of magic have subsections to them. Types of spells, as you know. Attack, defense, healing, whatever. And then there's the part that doesn't belong to any type until the user commands them to become one."_

"The type of magic that's stored? The one that you're surprised I'm able to feel this early on?"

"_Precisely." _The Voice confirmed. "_Anything that uses magic can only access a finite amount of it. Even the magic dimension itself could be fully depleted if a big enough spell was cast. Like a multiverse-destroying spell."_

"Is a spell like that even _remotely _possible?"

"_Yes, but definitely not by us…"_

"Tch…" Meteora said, annoyed that there was yet another epic ability out there that she'd never get control over. Like the monster-butterfly form. That was one she...wait, didn't the Voice mention at one point that she might actually be able to use it? What the hell happened to that plot lin-

"_You don't have any use for it anyway." _The Voice said, almost in a scolding tone. "_What would you even do with the power to destroy a universe?"_

"Umm...kill Lythol?" Meteora suggested, struggling to find a good reason besides being jealous. "Ultimate evil and stuff, it seems I'd be doing everyone a favor."

"_He'd shrug that off easier than you'd shrug off someone throwing a pebble at you." _The Voice scoffed. "_Trust me, if there was a power out there that could destroy him, it'd have done it by now."_

"Fantastic…" Meteora muttered. "Thought I'd be doing the multiverse a service…"

"_Oh, you definitely would." _The Voice enunciated. "_Unfortunately, the only being who had any hope of doing that "service" is currently...unavailable."_

"I get the idea." Meteora said. "But anyway, back to the main topic. Can you give me a rough estimate for how long I have until that magic barrier wears out?"

"_A good few months. Like I said, a while. I just hope that it will be a long enough stretch of time for us to figure out what to do next…"_

"Yeah...but we might wanna figure that out right now." Meteora assumed, as the light from the torch her parents were carrying finally became visible. She moaned and blinked away from it, the sudden change in luminosity annoying her to the extreme. After a few blinks, the outlines of her parents came into view and then literally sprinted towards her. Meteora got to her feet before they reached her and stretched her arms out, which responded with several cracking noises along with a few aches and pains.

"Meteora! Are you okay?" Eclipsa asked frantically, running up to her and heavily resisting the urge to pull her daughter into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm fine." Meteora reassured them, unaware she was still wearing her fake smile. "But...could you move that light away?" She pointed towards the torch Globgor was holding. "I kinda need some time getting used to it."

"Oh. Sure, sorry." Globgor said, moving the burning metal stick to his other hand and as far away from them as possible. The light cast long shadows against the floor in response, making them appear impossibly tall. "But Meteora...we're _so _sorry we didn't find a proper light source faster." He sighed. "It's my fault. I found a lamp, and your mother said I shouldn't use it, but I insisted. And when we got here it-"

"It's okay, I heard everything. You two were arguing _quite audibly_ about that." Meteora said, making her parents look away in embarrassment. Meteora frowned and she shifted in place, nervous about how the next question she had for them might go. "But uh...is everything okay with you guys?"

"What do you mean?" Eclipsa asked.

"I mean...did I come at a bad time?" Meteora asked. "You don't fight a lot in the future, as far as I can recall, but this isn't the future anymore, so…" She gulped and took a deep breath. "...is this kind of a regular occurrence or something that I should know-"

"No, nothing is wrong with our relationship together!" Eclipsa said quickly, not wanting Meteora to get the wrong idea. "Sometimes your father and I just...have arguments about things. The lamp was one of them. But not a single thing has changed Meteora. We still love each other. People who love each other just have...disagreements from time to time. It's completely natural."

Meteora looked at her parents like she didn't believe a single word of this. Although she had to convince them that everything about this was normal, her parents fighting amongst each other, even for something as petty as a _lamp_, struck a feeling in her that she didn't like. She still didn't know a thing about love after all. She had never developed any sort of "feelings" for anyone, as most people around her age that they came across were usually trying to murder her. Plus, anyone around that age had been raised to be killers, just like her. Jenkins had actually made several comments in the past on how "repopulating the Earth is going to be really hard, if this is what the generation inheriting it all is like."

And honestly, Meteora couldn't agree more with that statement.

But back in the present (past?), she wasn't sure how to feel. She was aware that relationships were supposed to be...rocky, at times. Unstable. Hard to trek through. Even downright annoying. But now, when she finally got a glimpse of that, she discovered that she was...strangely disappointed in her parents for fighting.

But why, is what she asked herself. Was it the fact that they were fighting in the first place? No, she and Jenkins and Mari had fought plenty of times before. And while it wasn't a good comparison to call her relationship with those two similar to the ones her parents had, it still had some of the same principles. They cared about each other. That's why they fought in the first place. Because one of them thought _they _knew what was best for the rest. Over food, water, where to go, who to kill, how to…

to…

'Oh.' She thought, biting the inside of her lip. 'That's it. That's why I'm disappointed. It's because of what they're fighting _over_ to begin with. A fucking _lamp _of all things. _We'd_ fight about how to evenly split the rations, who would get to sleep where when I still cared about comfort, which one of us would have to keep watch if Jenkins wasn't around, all that. Important stuff. Stuff that our lives depended on...most of the time.' She glanced over at Globgor and Eclipsa, who were staring at her in confusion. No doubt wondering why their daughter hadn't said anything for the past five minutes.

'And _them…' _She thought, her eyes narrowing slightly. 'I think I was so taken aback by their quarreling because I expected them to be better than that. Like why would you fight over a lamp? The world literally might end soon and you're fighting over a damn light source!' Meteora huffed before suddenly backtracking, a hypocritical realization coming to light.

'Although...come to think of it...we'd definitely fight over a lamp like that if we ever found one. Actually, we'd probably argue with each other so much our mouths would go dry. When would we use it? Should we start a fire or just turn that thing on? And when it runs out of batteries, who's to blame?'

Meteora sighed internally. 'Well...shit.' She cursed. 'We're really no better than them. If anything, we'd fight over stuff that _they _saw as petty. I think the _real _reason is that I expected them to not fight at all. I've been imagining my parents in nothing but delusions of grandeur, basically deifying then. And now, at my first glimpse of them not being perfect, I guess that vision kinda fell apart. Even that brief meeting with my mother didn't dissuade me, because she didn't do anything wrong!'

Meteora shifted in place again and her glaze switched to the floor, while Eclipsa and Globgor exchanged glances and began whispering things to each other, mostly about whether she had fallen asleep standing up or not.

'That meeting went just fine.' Meteora continued. 'She never said a single thing that made me look down on her. Sure, she freaked out at times, but that was only when I was describing all my injuries and how horrible it's all been! She...she gave me hope. For that place. A hundred miles away. Our destination.'

Meteora closed her eyes.

'And now, I-"

"_You should really say something." _The Voice interjected. "_Your parents will interrupt soon if you don't, and then you'll have to explain-"_

"Shut up, I'm thinking to myself." Meteora whispered.

"_Okaaaaaaaay." _The Voice said slowly, deciding to just leave it at that.

'Now, where was I? Ah yes, the destination.' Meteora thought. 'Our paradise. Valhalla. Heaven. Well, not really. Probably just another crappily-constructed shithole in the middle of the Wastes, but with more people and supplies. That's basically everything nowadays. _But_ it's better than Echo creek. It's better than the Underworld. And it's better than some random spot in the middle of the desert. I can't imagine how weird it's gonna feel when we get there. A permanent home…' She pondered, going back over all the campsites and settlements they made and found respectively.

'We've never had anything close to that, have we?' She thought. 'Anytime we arrived somewhere, we always made plans to leave and keep moving later on. No matter what. All because Jenkins promised to find our parents. But when we finally _do _reach them...will it have been worth it? I don't know why, but I feel like we're setting ourselves up for an anticlimactic reunion. I've already met my _real _parents once. Well, _parent_. Singular.' She shrugged. 'But now I've met them both, even if they're from an alternate timeline. Will I even be happy when I see them...or will I be like "oh good, them again. Let's see if they behave differently from the last time we met."'

Meteora looked back up at the two figures standing in front of her, who were still whispering to each other. She assumed that they were talking about her in a similar manner to how she was thinking about them. They already were raising a baby version of her. Were they comparing the two? Just like she was comparing them to how she thought they'd act?

'Okay, enough speculation.' She thought, readying herself for the inevitable conversation. This was getting tiring, fantasizing about all the ways her parents could have been better, and how disappointed she was. That was a thing she could think about _never_. Her parents weren't perfect. Meteora had realized that, it took its toll, and she let it go. The end. It was time for her to actually spend some time _with_ them rather than list all the reasons why she had been hoping for better.

"Completely natural?" She said, catching their attention and snapping them out of whatever whisper-conversation they were engaged in. "Fights like that...are completely natural?"

"...Yes." Eclipsa replied, wanting to ask why Meteora had spent the last five minutes standing there doing nothing but deciding that it was probably best if they didn't know. Whatever the reason, she wouldn't tell them what it was and either make up a lie or stall even further. "Yes Meteora, it's natural. Like I was saying, you shouldn't be worried about it in the slightest."

Meteora stared up at her mother, a look of total disbelief on her face after hearing what she felt was a complete rewording of what was said earlier. She then glanced over to the torch and noticed that her eyes had adjusted to the point where she only had to squint a little, even after staring directly at it. For now, at least, she wanted to get out of the dark.

"Can we go back upstairs?" She asked, in the same tone a pleading child might have. "I think I've had enough of this room for the rest of my life."

"Of course sweetie." Eclipsa said. "Although that's a bit of a shame, considering how important this room was to us..."

Meteora sighed, sensing that another long and drawn-out conversation was on the way, but decided to go with it and get _this _over with while she still had the chance. "It was my old room, right?" She said, already knowing the answer. "Where I stayed at one point?"

"That's right!" Eclipsa said. "I'm glad you remembered."

"I really didn't." Meteora admitted. "I just saw all the mosaics and paintings and that crib over there with my name on it, and I kinda…assumed."

Eclipsa looked defeated. "Oh." She said, before perking back up. "Well, yes, this was your room! But...emphasis on the _was. _As I'm sure you've guessed, we're no longer using it. It's certainly not fit for a child anymore. There are broken pillars and chunks of stone everywhere that we never got around to repairing." Eclipsa spread her arms, gesturing to the entire area. "And while we'd like to have moved some of your old things from here up to your new rooms, we didn't want to disturb any of it. So we left it all here, as a sort of...museum to your past self. All the toys, books, the crib, everything."

"Past self…" Meteora mumbled, getting flashbacks to the horror visions of her past victims back on the mountain. "You're talking about Ms. Heinous, right? My "past self"?"

Eclipsa and Globgor froze up simultaneously, as if Meteora had just pulled out Medusa's head. But thankfully, they were only under the power of shock rather than a gorgons, and both of them stared her dead in the eye at the mention of her past life as a headmistress.

"You know about Ms. Heinous?" Eclipsa asked. "How? We both made a promise to each other to never tell you about that life unless it was absolutely necessary!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Meteora said, which she was pretty sure was true. "But uh...I definitely know about her. And I know about the time I turned into a monster, sucked everyone's souls, and that I was transformed back into a baby. It was kinda all...thrown at me at once. At least some of the major parts."

"I'm...so sorry Meteora." Eclipsa said, apologizing for what felt like the hundredth time. "We didn't want you to ever know. We thought you'd react negatively, or you wouldn't believe us, and that you might even run away out of anger for us trying to keep it a secret."

"Then...why did you?" Meteora asked. "Or rather, why are you going to? If I react negatively, then I'll get upset for a while but be okay by sundown. I wouldn't flat-out run away. If I don't believe you, I don't believe you and that's the end of it. And I'd never get mad at you for not telling me _at all_ if you..._just told me_."

"You make a lot of good points." Globgor said. "But that wasn't all of it. You know about all the people you hurt or attacked, right?"

'More than you know…' Meteora wanted to say, but instead she nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm fully aware of the crappy things I did in the past. Probably more aware than I should be. But why is that important?"

"Well, we were worried that you might feel guilty because of it and try to pay it back somehow." Globgor explained. "And so we were afraid that someone you took the soul of or imprisoned in that academy of yours might try to attack you out of fear once they realized it was you."

"I can handle myself in a fight just fine." Meteora mumbled. "But _why _would anyone attack me, if they remembered what happened the last time? I beat all of them with a _glare_! Literally."

"It's not that you won't win, it's the fact that you'd be assaulted in the first place. We want to raise you in the best environment we can Meteora." Eclipsa said, leaning down so that she was now at the same eye level as her. "But people are...unpredictable. Dangerous. There's still so much hate towards monsters and towards us. Those people don't see you as a miracle, a union between two species. They see you as a...well...a…"

"An abomination." Meteora said, finishing the sentence for her. She already knew it. She already saw how some scavengers had looked at her. And she definitely remembered the first glimpse of herself in the mirror, something that was basically equivalent to self-hate.

She didn't need to be reminded of it.

"I get it." She continued. "I've already been the subject of a lot of name-calling in the future, and I already know what the world at large thinks of me. Some weird, horrifying, hybrid monstrosity that shouldn't exist."

Eclipsa gasped and looked heartbroken. "Meteora!" She exclaimed, almost in a scolding tone. "Don't _ever _talk about yourself like that-"

"I've heard all that before too." Meteora interjected. "But you don't have to worry mom. Neither of you do. This isn't some self-hate thing. It's just...I understand. I'm never _not _going to be the odd one out, and I doubt another hybrid like me is going to be popping up anytime soon, so I just learned to live with it. All the insults. All the glares. They don't matter anymore."

Eclipsa opened her mouth but said nothing. On one hand, she was happy that Meteora didn't care about all the vulgar things that the people of Earth and likely the people of Mewni had said to her throughout her life. Believing that all the taunts and stares on the streets didn't matter, and that she was never going to be anything different, so she should accept who she was and never strive to be anything else.

But on the other hand, it greatly saddened Eclipsa that she had simply _accepted _all of this like it was normal. Her daughter shouldn't have to live a life pretending that everyone treating her like a freak was acceptable. She should be fighting against it! Putting them in their place and joining the people that were working against these monster-hate groups.

It was only right. She was the perfect example of unity. And now she was throwing that title away in exchange for what could basically be called a surrender?!

'No.' Eclipsa thought. 'No, that is not how Meteora is going to grow up. She will not be the subject of a single taunt, insult, or anything of the sort because of who she is. I will personally make sure that by the time she reaches the age where she has experiences that she can remember later on, all of this bigotry will have been erased from Earthni. No hate groups. No riots. Nothing.'

Now more determined than ever, Eclipsa straightened herself and almost made plans for how she was going to accomplish this right then and there. But for now, she needed to know _why _all this stuff was still around. Answers first, plan later.

"No Meteora." She said, making her daughter arch an eyebrow in surprise. "It _does _matter. How are they still going on in the future? Are you doing anything to fight against it?"

"I…" Meteora paused. "We can't really do anything at the moment." She claimed, which was entirely true, even if most people in her time didn't care what species you were but only if you had any food or not. "It's a giant mess. Some people still hate me and monsters, some don't, and there's even a Kingdom in the Underworld that's devoted itself to killing all non-demons."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"_Did you seriously just-"_

"Yes, realized it as soon as I said it." Meteora breathed, trying not to show her internal panic at the screw-up. "Don't worry, I can play it off."

"There's a _what?!" _Eclipsa hollered, hardly able to believe her own ears. "Meteora, are you actually saying there's a Kingdom in the Underworld that's trying to wipe everyone out?! Have-have they declared war on Earthni? How did they even get up here? They should have been trapped in their own dimension! What-what is…"

"Okay, calm down Eclipsa! Calm down…" Globgor consoled, grabbing a hold of his wife and comforting her even though he was equally as shocked. "Just breathe Eclipsa. I'm sure Meteora can explain everything, but it won't help if we start asking her a million questions at once."

"Story of my life…" Meteora muttered. "But yeah, mom, it's okay. However bad you think it is, trust me, _it's not that."_

"_Yeah, it's actually worse."_

"Not the time…" Meteora grumbled.

"I...sorry. That was uncharacteristic of me." Eclipsa said, holding a hand to her chest and lowering her breathing. "It's just that that was a lot to take in. Meteora, next time you reveal something like that, please try and build up to it instead of dumping it on us all at once."

"Right. Sorry." Meteora said. "That...wasn't supposed to come out that way."

"_Or at all…"_

Meteora narrowed her eyes and ignored this. "It was a slip-up, and again, I'm sorry that you had to hear about it that way."

"It's alright dear." Eclipsa said. "It's just all so confusing. I thought all the demons were sealed in the Underworld when the two worlds merged. We haven't seen any of them since then. How...exactly do they get into Earthni? Do they have magic capabilities like you?"

"Not exactly…" Meteora said, and then contemplated over how much she should reveal. If she told them about the portal, and if the apocalypse came in this timeline, a lot more people could be saved. But then there'd just be _more _internal conflict in the Underworld, and hundreds more people for Drosid to hunt down and kill. And Meteora didn't believe that Eclipsa could simply send a few negotiators through the portal beforehand and get him to change his mind about the non-demons. Because from the limited interaction that Meteora had with him, as well as Mari's story of her infiltration mission, she could tell that Drosid was...not up for a peaceful resolution.

So that was not an option.

However, assuming she did tell them about the portal, and the apocalypse was made an impossibility by her efforts, then things wouldn't be so bad. After all, Drosid only wanted to defend the Underworld. It's not like he was going to send an invasion force to take over Earthni, because he had everything he wanted back at that fortress of his. Revealing the portal to the Underworld would likely only have a neutral effect. The single good thing she saw coming out of it was finally allowing Tom to come to the surface (who was still trapped down there for all she knew), a person that she had only seen images of up to this point.

And stories of course. Lots and lots of stories from Jenkins. Mostly about all the times he teleported to Earth trying to convince Star to be his girlfriend, and then the E.D.F detected the portal usage and sent him back home with his tail between his legs. Literally. Apparently this was a very common occurrence, and there were over 50 plus incidents that Star never knew about. Meteora wondered why he hadn't stopped after the third or fourth try, and Jenkins' only response to this was "He was a stubborn bastard."

But, back to the options presented before her. Telling them about the portal and preventing armageddon seemed to be the best way to go. Even if Drosid tried something stupid, the E.D.F would carpet bomb him into oblivion the second he arrived in Earthni. That's why-

'Hey...hey, hold on just a damn second!' Meteora thought, her brows furrowing. 'We _learned_ about that damn portal from Jenkins to begin with. Does...does he know about it yet? The one in this timeline? I mean he _can't, _considering he'd already have told Eclipsa. After all, back when me and the Voice were looking through that memory of the meeting, he said that Eclipsa was "one of the only people I respect." He'd definitely share that kind of information.' She closed her eyes again and got herself lost in thought. 'But...this raises a few more questions. What's going to happen to him if the end of the world never comes? Is he going to remain how he was in the flashback before that one, the guy who always uses force or blackmailing to get what he wants?'

Meteora's face dropped. 'I don't want that.' She thought. 'He deserves better than forever remaining the violent and unstable person I saw back then. I mean, that's only slightly different from what he is now, but still. He should get a better life.'

'...'

'And _NO, _I'm not going to accomplish that by making the apocalypse arrive just so he can become a better and caring person.' She thought furiously, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head (not _the _Voice) that was suggesting some truly ludicrous ideas. 'All I'm going to do is…' She hesitated and pursed her lips. 'Actually, I don't know what I'm going to do. He's a total mess with too much on his hands. I suppose I could tell him about all the stuff later on and-'

"_If you're thinking about ways to help Jenkins, I suggest that you do this later on." _The Voice interjected, sounding bored. "_And before you ask how I know you're thinking about him, I should inform you that you've been muttering things aloud for the last three minutes. Not thinking, by the way."_

"Yeah?" Meteora whispered, not caring about the last part in the slightest. "Well, he deserves something in this timeline better than the crap life he currently has. Jenkins should be happy too, and I _know_ he's far from anything close to "happy", because of those memories you showed me."

"_You care about him that much?"_

"Is there a reason I _shouldn't_?" Meteora grumbled. "He and Mari are all I had for more than a decade. I think any normal person in that time would grow to care for the guy who had raised them for all that time."

"_But you're not a normal person."_

"Well...wait." Meteora said, her voice rising a bit. "What the _hell _do you mean by-"

"_I'm not talking about your status as a hybrid! I wasn't insinuating anything about that!" _The Voice said quickly. "_It's just that you two have had a lot of arguments in the past, and I thought you'd be a little more...eager to run off and do your own thing without him."_

"That's what I've been doing this whole time." Meteora pointed out. "Remember? Our plan? I'm making all the decisions for myself from now on?"

"_I...I'm not sure I can recall you ever say-"_

"Well, it happened, and that's what I've been doing." Meteora said. "Making the choices myself. Going to Brudo's, telling Jenkins and Mari about him, showing off my magic, using the time-travel spell, those were all my choices."

"_Technically, you wouldn't have known about the spell without me." _The Voice said. "_So does it really count?"_

"Of course it counts!" Meteora exclaimed, earning _another_ bewildered look from her parents. Who, unbeknownst to her, had grown tired of waiting for her to think things out a long time ago. And so Globgor had handed the torch to Eclipsa and scooped Meteora up in his arms, and the two were now slowly heading back up the stairs, while Meteora was so involved in her thoughts that she hadn't even felt any of that take place. She was practically in a trance, speaking in unintelligible whispers, and totally unaware that she had already left her former nursery.

Much to her parents absolute confusion of course.

"You may have told me about that spell, but I decided whether to use it or not." She continued. "Even if it had some...unfortunate side-effects."

"_If you say so." _The Voice said, who was fully aware of the outside situation but had decided to not speak up about it. "_But back to what we were saying about Jenkins. If I'm being honest, I think you're drifting apart from him. And Mariposa."_

"How so?"

"_Well, for one thing, you're spending a lot less time with the two of them." _The Voice said. "_I'm betting that even they have realized this. You're constantly going off by yourself to do spell things, and spending less and less time with them."_

"Okay...but the spell stuff is kinda important if I want to be strong enough to face down the _literal armies of Hell, _right?" Meteora asked. "Isn't that what we're doing this all for? So I can get stronger? If we go down there and I die, then it'll have been for nothing. All of it."

"_I get what you're saying." _The Voice said. "_But this is not a matter of getting stronger. Heck, it's likely that this running off behavior has already caused some unintended side effects back in our timeline."_

"What do you mean?"

"_Well, for starters, answer me this. How long do you think it's been since we got teleported to the past?"_

"About a day…" Meteora guessed. "We spent one night at Ery's place...we've been here for a few hours...so yeah. About a day or so."

"_Yes. And on a scale of one to ten, how much do you think Jenkins has been freaking out while after we disappeared?"_

Meteora winced. "...An eleven." She choked out. "He's probably going crazy right now looking for me. Mari too. I mean, we have _so _many enemies that could have kidnapped me, killed me and hid the body, or something equally terrible. There are too many negative reasons for why I suddenly vanished, and I'm betting that he's chosen one of them to believe in."

"_Or…"_

"Or what?"

The Voice sighed. "_What was I talking about just a second ago?" _It asked. "_About the whole thing with you running off at random times for longer and longer intervals? He's noticed that. He's noticed you're spending more time by yourself, and maybe he thinks that you've been intentionally avoiding him and Mariposa."_

Meteora gulped and tensed up as she finally realized exactly what the Voice was going on about.

"_Now...what do you suppose he's going to think when it looks like you've run off for good?"_

"He's going to think it's something they did." Meteora groaned.

"_Precisely." _The Voice said. "_He is going to believe that he did something that made you want to go. That he was such a horrible parent that you just couldn't take him or Mariposa anymore. He wasn't, of course, but-"_

"That's subjective honestly." Meteora muttered. "Depending on how you would define "terrible"."

"_...Quite." _The Voice said. "_But as I was saying, he is going to blame himself. Very, very harshly. To the point where he's going to start being cautious around Mariposa."_

"Let me guess." Meteora said, shaking her head slightly. "Because he thinks she's going to leave too?"

"_Bingo." _The Voice said. "_After all, if he did something that made you leave, then it must be grounds to make Mariposa leave as well. Then he's going to start asking her over and over if she's okay, if he's done anything wrong, etc, etc."_

"But it wasn't his fault." Meteora said, stating the obvious. "Mariposa is going to say that he didn't do anything wrong. That if I randomly disappeared out of nowhere, then something must have been going on with me, not him."

"_And do you think he's going to believe her?"_

"Uh, yes?" Meteora said. "He's pretty good at telling when people are lying. And Mariposa is not a very good liar. He should see right through her if she does try to lie for whatever reason."

"_I agree. But even if he knows she isn't lying, that doesn't mean he'll believe it."_

"What are you talking about? Why would _anyone _not believe the truth when they _know _it is?" Meteora asked. "What kind of logic is that?"

"_The logic of a scared person. Also, this is a lie of opinion, not truth." _The Voice said. "_And you'd be surprised. You should have seen some of the people from the old days. The kinds that practically lived on lies, and formed their whole existence around the concept. All because they were scared of something that didn't exist. It was a drug, and only the worst kinds of people made money off it."_

"Well, that just sounds like not living a full life." Meteora quipped.

"_Yes. But anyway, he's scared. He may know the truth, but even then, he'll begin to doubt it. He's not going to immediately suspect me, even if it...was my fault for introducing you to the time-travel spell in the first place. I'll admit it."_

"I think this is still on _me_." Meteora said. "This is all because I got angry and started pounding on the ground right before the spell worked. I'm getting the feeling that that anger somehow screwed things up and got us stuck here."

"_Ludicrous." _The Voice said. "_If anger like that could get us somewhere, then I'd have told you to get mad first thing. And, before we keep going with Jenkins, may I ask why you were so angry? To me, it felt like that outburst came out of nowhere."_

"I...I'm not sure myself." Meteora declared. "You're right. It came out of nowhere. Even for me, I didn't know where it came from. One moment I was just a little annoyed that this wasn't working…and the next" She shuddered "...I was almost shaking with rage and just had to let it out."

"_Great. Another thing to look into later." _The Voice sighed. "_I'll just have to add it to the list. Which by my count, is a few miles long."_

"Was...was that _sarcasm?" _Meteora asked, not sure if she should laugh or just sit there (why did it feel like she was sitting down again?) in shock.

"_Yes." _The Voice said. "_But it is still an absurdly long list. And this irritates me to no end. To have all these questions and no answers...it's not something I am used to, and most certainly not something I enjoy."_

"Welcome to my world. And you can look at your precious list while I'm asleep." Meteora said, entirely unsympathetic. "But back to Jenkins. So, why _wouldn't_ he immediately suspect you? He hasn't trusted you since the beginning, which, I might add, is partially your fault." Meteora mumbled, only opening the corner of her mouth. "If I remember correctly, he asked to speak to you back at Relicor's study, but you refused because you simply didn't want to talk to him, which only made him _more_ suspicious."

"_It was more than "I didn't want to speak to him", even if that's true." _The Voice said. "_But what else could be my fault? I've been trying to help since the start of all this!"_

"I mean...you had a weird way of doing it. You spied on us for years without our knowledge, appeared out of the blue one day and spoke to me, _and I still can't remember those fucking early encounters, starting to think it isn't just brain damage." _Meteora growled, clearly irate that she was unable to recall her first meetings with the being that had made her head it's permanent residence. "...and then started teaching me spells, refused to speak to anyone else, and have remained a total mystery to Mari and Jenkins. And maybe my mother. Come to think of it, she's really the only other person you've spoken to, right?"

"_Pretty much." _The Voice said. "_But if he can't trust me, then that's the way it's going to be. We can't always get what we want in this world."_

"You _think_?" Meteora asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "But okay. You make a fair point. Given how Jenkins is, I don't think the news of you existing and living in my head would have gone well no matter how I broke it to them. Like, you could have taken over my body, and they'd never even know! What if he suspects that right now?"

"_If I took complete control over your body, which I'm pretty sure I can't, then I'd be discovered in a few minutes, at most._" The Voice stated. "_I'd do a terrible job of trying to copy your personality Meteora. But on the plus side, there's no way in a million days that Jenkins would hurt you to get me out, so even if he does suspect that you're under my control, he's still not a threat. He won't harm you to get to me."_

"I hope so…" Meteora said. "But all this doesn't get rid of the fact that again, he hasn't trusted you since the beginning. He's even said it to my face. Multiple times…"

"_Yes, and I took those criticisms to heart." _The Voice sneered. "_But...he thinks you running away is going to be about him because he's been with you for much longer. Raising you. Influencing you. All that. He most likely thinks that you ran off to go find your mother without him or your sister."_

Meteora stifled a chuckle. "Guess I kinda achieved that, didn't I?"

Meteora expected the Voice to laugh back, but it replied in a deadpan tone, clearly unamused by her attempts at humor. She sighed and changed the topic. "What about Ery?" She asked. "What do you think he's doing now that I'm gone?"

**Meanwhile...**

"Where in the _fuck _did she disappear too?!"

**Back in Echo Creek…**

"_I'm sure he's angry and confused." _The Voice deduced. "_Not that I particularly care. I told you that we shouldn't trust him. Ulterior motives, remember?"_

"Yeah, I get it." Meteora said. "But I still feel kinda guilty about all that. I was only suspicious about him because he was a lizard. But that sort of thinking...is literally what I'm trying to get rid of, or at least what you say I _have _to get rid of, on Earthni. It's a bit hypocritical, you know?"

"_I believe you told me all that earlier, but yes." _The Voice said. "_However, while you may distrust him because of what he is, I am distrustful of him because of who he is. What did I tell you earlier?"_

"Something about...that no one would live in the middle of nowhere unless they had something to hide?" Meteora guessed, recalling that it was along those lines.

"_Or if they're running from someone. Like...the E.D.F. For example." _The Voice said. "_We have a lot of reasons to believe he was dangerous Meteora. Honestly, it was a stroke of luck that we were teleported away like that. Who knows what might have happened had we remained…"_

"And what if he's actually a good person?" Meteora asked. "I was going back and forth for a while there, and I know he seems suspicious as hell, but if he's just acting like his normal self, all friendly and cheerful, then ditching him like that makes me feel like kind of a...jerk." She explained, unsure how else she should put it.

"_You're seriously worried about acting like a jerk to someone?" _The Voice asked. "_After all the people you've killed?"_

"Well, they were assholes, and trying to kill _me." _Meteora pointed out. "Sure, maybe a few of them were just looking for food and not horrible on the inside, but...I had my reasons for that."

"_And what about the first time you killed someone?" _The Voice asked suddenly, sounding tired of her stubbornness. "_Did you have your reasons for that little overreaction?"_

A second after the Voice said that, Meteora froze up and almost gasped, feeling like someone had just slapped her. The shock faded only a second later, as her eyes narrowed into slits and her fists clenched up, outraged that the Voice had even mentioned that event in the first place, particularly because it had _nothing to do with this._

"You did _not _just go there." She growled. "How _dare _you-"

"_Okay, I didn't mean it!" _The Voice quickly shouted, realizing it's mistake a little too late. "_I was just…"_

"Just what?" Meteora scoffed, not bothering to hide her outrage. "That incident had nothing to do with what we're talking about and you know it. And besides, you should know that it's on Jenkins list of things that "we've never supposed to talk about so we can forget it all happened". So great job. You might have just erased years of progress."

"_That's not true and you know it." _The Voice said. "_The fact that you were able to recall it internally after one second proves that you hadn't erased it at all. It was fresh in your mind like it had happened just yesterday. Don't think-"_

"No, _shut up!" _Meteora yelled. "I cannot _believe_ you-" She purposefully bit her mood tongue, doing her best to not start swearing like a sailor. Her parents were still standing next to her after all, last she saw. "Why did you say that?" She asked. "Why did you bring that up out of nowhere? There was _no _point. There was _no _reason for you to say that, yet you did it anyway!"

"_I...see that now." _The Voice said. "_But-"_

"Since you've watched me my whole life, you should know just how traumatizing that was for me!" Meteora screeched. "And you're right. I haven't forgotten it all. The blood staining every inch of my body...the person lying in front of with half their torso gone...and _their _faces. Because they saw that side of me. The monster side. The _real _monster side. The one that puts the Mewman's tale of ravenous monsters to shame."

"_Meteora…" _The Voice mumbled. "_I'm sorry. I was just...annoyed with how you were passing Ery off. That you believed there was a good person despite me telling you all along that we have to be careful."_

"So what? Do you think that makes it better? How about I start criticizing you, huh?" Meteora suggested, coming up with one in an instant. "Oh! I got it! How about that time you made us go to the top of that rock spire, and Janna followed us up there? That was all your fault! Then I almost fell to my death while I was trying to get my Butterfly form! Imagine if that hadn't worked? Again, it would have been _all your fault."_

"_..."_

"Well? Do you have some sort of rebuke? Explanation maybe?" Meteora asked. "Anything at all that could make up for what you just said to me?"

"_...What am I supposed to say?" _The Voice mumbled, surprising Meteora with how apathetic it suddenly sounded. "_You're right. That incident with Janna was my fault. And Jenkins not trusting me was my fault. And getting us stuck in the past was my fault, no matter how much you say that it was your decision."_

Meteora was about to respond, but the Voice kept going, clearly refusing to let up until it had made its point.

"_Teaching you magic and getting you put on Drosid's hit list?" _It continued. "_My fault. Not getting in touch with you earlier in your life and potentially causing several future battles to be completely unnecessary? My fault. Not caring about Jenkins and Mariposa and only about you, and convincing you to purposefully put them in danger all so you could grow your powers? Oh, MY FUCKING FAULT."_

"You-you never did that." Meteora whispered.

"_No. But I definitely thought about doing it." _The Voice admitted. "_All for your sake. All so you could grow stronger. I even failed to care that you could get hurt if you got too strong too fast. I thought it'd be worth it. I thought you could handle it. And so the first day I met you, the first I revealed myself to you, I told myself "that is how it's going to go. I am going to toughen her up quicker and more effectively then Jenkins ever could. She'll get hurt. She could even get close to dying. But it'll all be worth it in the end…"_

"..."

"_That was my thought process. After fifteen years of waiting, I cared little for your safety, fully believing you could take care of yourself without my assistance. I saw you as a way to heal this world and help everyone. You were just...the way to do it."_

"..."

"_Meteora?"_

"..."

"_I know. It's horrible. I was horrible. But-"_

"Shut up." Meteora demanded. "Let me think."

The Voice obeyed this without question, retreating deep into Meteora's subconscious and leaving her by herself. But it was still there of course. She could feel it's presence. Still listening...still thinking...berating itself for that comment it made about her first kill. The thing that led to the whole mess in the first place.

And as for Meteora?

She was shocked. Her mouth hung open like a dead frog, eyes wide and unblinking. She sure hoped her parents weren't looking directly at her (they still were), because if they saw the expression on her face, they'd assumed she was having a heart attack.

But this didn't feel like a heart attack. No, it felt _worse. _Because that was the truth. In her heart of hearts, Meteora was positive that what the Voice just said was true. The conviction in its voice...the power...all demeaning and aimed at itself. Meteora has almost never heard a tone like that. It was furious, sobbing, relieved...so many emotions that she couldn't even count them.

And Meteora was just feeling indignation. _That's _what it had thought of her from the start? Just a means to an end to fulfill its goal of saving the world? The fact that this has come out of absolute nowhere made it even worse. The sudden influx of bottled up sentiments all breaking free of their jars and running wild caused her to feel like she was having an aneurysm, too strong and too sudden for her to do anything about it.

But then there were the internal conflicts. Between so many sides that all sounded exactly alike, but were different in every other way.

'It lied to us!' One hissed. 'We should end our partnership with this deceiver!'

'No!' Another shouted. 'It helped us! It had to have its reasons! Why else would it be doing all this for us?'

'Yes!'A third one chimed in, agreeing with the second. 'Did you hear the way it revealed it's secret? It was truly sorry! After all it has done, after all it has said, it'd be unfair for us to simply throw it in the garbage like so many others!'

'Really?' A fourth said. 'After that little comment, would it actually be unfair?'

'Quiet! You know nothing!'

'Bullshit! I know more than you ever did!'

'Why you-'

'Girls girls, you're both pretty, how about we-'

'SHUT UP!'

'...Yeesh. Tough crowd to please…'

"I think our current mood is entirely appropriate! _Pleased _is the last thing we should be!'

'Wait, do "we" even exist? What's going on here?'

"ALL OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" Meteora screeched, and instantly twenty voices slammed their imaginary mouths shut. "Oh god…" She mumbled. "What the hell was that?"

"_What the hell was what?"_

"Not. Now." Meteora growled. "You later. I'm dealing with some internal issues right now. Mostly about whether I should kick you out of my head or not for saying that."

"_Seems a bit harsh…" _The Voice complained, sounding hurt.

"Yeah. Pity that." Meteora spat, before returning to her head, where her calvary of inner voices were waiting. 'Okay, now that you're all under control, does everyone have any _good _ideas?'

'PUNISH IT!' Ten voices screamed.

"FORGIVE IT!' Another ten shouted.

'Uh-huh, seems to be split down the middle.' Meteora notes, regretting asking in the first place. 'How about this. Both of you can present your cases, and I'll decide the verdict, how's that? It's time to play judge.'

"_Wait, you know how a courtroom works? When did you even…?" _The Voice interjected, as Meteora was still saying aloud what she believed were private thoughts."_And come to think of it, where did these twenty inner voices of yours come from? I've never seen them before. Did you create them out of nothing?"_

"Quiet. wait your turn. I'm deciding whether or not to let you off the hook for this?"

"_By having a...courtroom session?"_

"...Yes." Meteora said casually, as if it was the most normal thing to do in this kind of situation. "I know it's ridiculous and came out of nowhere, but-"

"_Okay, that's not happening." _The Voice said. "_All of this is too stupid and sudden, even for me. I mean, where did those voices come from? Why do you know a decent amount of information about how law works? And what actually happens if you decide that I'm...guilty?"_

"You'll be put in time-out, to state it bluntly."

"_Wha-what?" _The Voice asked, wondering if it was going crazy or not. "_What does that mean? I'll be put in prison?"_

"Well, it's something Jenkins did to me when I messed up when I was younger." Meteora said. "It was the only punishment he ever dished out, and even then on rare occasions. He'd make me go sit on a rock and wait a while until he said I could come back. I think the point was to try and punish me with boredom."

"_...I don't have a rock to sit on." _The Voice pointed out, still internally losing it that this was all happening at all. "_Can I just...apologize and the both of us can forget this ever happened? Your parents are still waiting for you, you know. How long do you think it's been? How long have I been talking to you in here? Too fucking long, is the answer." _It cursed, causing Meteora to be taken aback with the unexpected turn in vocabulary. "_So here's what's going to happen. I should have done this a long time ago, but I hadn't too invested in the conversation with you to take note of how much time had passed in the real world. You are going to snap out of this little trance and explain everything to your parents. You have been talking aloud this whole time since I am able to hear you, God knows what they're thinking right now. Do you have any idea how much you just inadvertently revealed?"_

"..."

Meteora froze up, an idiot's grin now plastered on her face. Her right eye twitched, then her left, and then she felt like all the hairs on her head were standing on end like she was being electrocuted. And all that electricity finally reminded her about a vital detail that had slipped her mind as of late.

Her parents.

The same parents she had completely forgotten about because of her conversation with the Voice, forgetting that they were standing right in front of her. It was a move worthy of the stupidest person in the world, which is exactly who Meteora felt like. They had heard everything. Jenkins. Spells. Her _first fucking kill. First _being the important word. How would they even interpret that? Would they assume-

'No.' Meteora told herself. 'No, this is fine. I've been...whispering this whole time!' She thought, blocking out the memories of the numerous shouts and curses. 'They couldn't have heard me! It's okay! It's fine. It's _fine. _Your plans aren't ruined. Your life isn't ruined. They're not going to lock you in a dungeon because they think you're a psychopathic murderer who talks to herself, it's...totally okay.'

Meteora smiled wider, but then began to tear up as her twenty inner voices came back and simultaneously told her that that wasn't true. This was it. Her life _was _over. Her parents would throw her into a prison cell because of this, and then-

"_Stop it. Calm down. Calm the fuck down!" _The Voice yelled, fully aware of the situation now that it felt the tear rolling down her cheeks. "_Having a mental breakdown will only make things worse! I can't see what's going on because you're focusing on nothing, even though I'm pretty sure that's not how vision works, but whatever. Doesn't matter. Calm yourself."_

"How am I supposed to remain calm?" Meteora whispered. "They probably know everything now! They're totally standing right in front of me, with dozens of guards by their sides, waiting until I...uh, wake up so they can throw me away like trash! Because that's probably what I am now! Their evil murdering future daughter that's talking to a voice in her head!"

"_They won't be as mad when they find out all those murders were in self-defense!" _The Voice shouted. "_They chose their path, and you did what you had too."_

"What does it matter if it was all in self-defense?! They're still dead!"

"_Yes, and you're not!" _The Voice shouted, before groaning. "_Just...stop! Stop feeling bad for-"_

"I don't "feel bad" for them!" Meteora yelled. "You're right! They made their choices! They made the choice to try and kill me! They can go to hell for all I care, as long as they don't bother me anymore! But I'm more worried about what my parents are going to say! They're going to disown me and run away from me and lock me up and-"

"_They can probably hear you right. Fucking. Now!" _The Voice pointed out, pausing between each word. "_I get it. I really do. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. I don't know what they're going to think exactly. Heck, maybe they've already thrown you in the dungeon and you just haven't noticed it yet. But I do know that they are reasonable people. And you have already proven yourself to be their daughter. They will believe you, and the truth, no matter what it is. You can claim all you want that they will be scared of you, but you can't know for sure until it actually happens." _The Voice sighed. "_And yes. They likely will be. After all, no one wants to have a daughter who's a proficient and brutal killer, do they?"_

"Jenkins did." Meteora said softly, not sure how that last part was supposed to help her. "Mari was practically trained to be an assassin. And she's definitely put those skills to use. More than I ever could."

"_Yes, but he doesn't train her like that anymore. Not after the psycho incident."_

"The what inciden…...oh." Meteora said, realizing what it was talking about. "Really? _That's _what you call it? What's wrong with you?"

"_Yes, I'm unimaginative, who cares. But there is actually another point to be made here." _The Voice said. "_Tell me, after Mariposa killed those three people, what did Jenkins do?"_

"He blew up at her." Meteora said, remembering that moment _very _well. She had been cowering far away from them as it was happening, as getting involved was the last thing she wanted. "I had never seen him so angry at one of us before then. He never physically disinclined her for it, but it was more than enough. She broke down and started sobbing, got her weapons taken away from her, and within a week she was mostly back to her old self. It was a bad time."

"_Yes, but what happened after that?"_

"Uh, everything else?" Meteora said. "What do you mean by that?"

"_Did Jenkins or Mariposa ever bring it up again? Was it ever mentioned after the whole thing was said and done?"_

"No, he put it on our list of "things we never talk about", and that was the end of it." Meteora said. "Hell, _this _is the first time I ever explained it to a person! Seriously, mentioning anything on that list is totally taboo, even in private. And it's for a good reason too. We...all want to forget that sort of stuff."

"_There is no forgetting moments like that." _The Voice said. "_Only burying them and hoping that the rain doesn't come and wash the dirt away."_

"If that's the case, then there was never any dirt in my life to begin with." Meteora said. "Because...yeah. You're right about that. There's been no forgetting it. Stuff like that always comes back."

"_...Hey, at least you're not freaking out anymore. Look where talking about past traumas got us." _The Voice said, trying to divert the conversation into something more positive.

"No, I'm still freaking out inside." Meteora said. "Internally, of course. But I'm...I don't know how to describe it. Feels like I'm about to go insane? That conversation was nothing more than a distraction."

"_Then why don't we fix that?"_

"How?" Meteora asked, doing her best to keep her voice calm and steady. "How can we possibly fix _any_ part of this mess?"

"_Wake up." _The Voice said bluntly.

"What?"

"_Wake up dammit." _It repeated. "_Come out of your trance and wake up. Go to them. Tell them the truth. Tell them everything. No matter how bad it is. They have a question, you answer to the best of your knowledge. If you need a break to go to the bathroom or something, do it, but that's as far as you can take it. You have to tell them everything as quickly as possible, so they understand as quickly as possible."_

"Wouldn't telling them all that at an extremely fast pace only serve to confuse them?" Meteora queried. "Doesn't sound like a very good way of gaining information…"

"_I know it sounds crazy, but I've seen it work before." _The Voice claimed. "_But only if you do it in a very specific way. Your words have to have power behind them. To convince them that you aren't lying at all. Because that's a no-go. No more lies. You definitely have to admit you lied to them earlier and that the future is actually a horror-filled wasteland with death and torture in every direction."_

"Wha-you weren't around when I lied to them about that!" Meteora yelled. "How did you…?"

"_Because I know that's exactly what you would have told someone if you wanted to keep the end of the world a secret. That it's not apocalyptic and shitty, but actually really nice."_

"I'm not sure if I described it as "really nice" though…" Meteora mumbled. "Just…not the apocalypse, but still bad. Plus, my whole appearance kind of gave off a dystopia vibe."

"_Regardless, none of that matters now." _The Voice said. "_It's time to wake up and spill the beans."_

"But...wait." Meteora said. "How do you know this is the right thing to do? How do you know they won't shoot me on sight the second I snap out of my trance?"

"_I don't." _The Voice sighed. "_I'm going to be honest with you. I am terrified and desperate Meteora. Terrified of what is happening. You have a few months to live in this timeline, and you will get weaker by the day no matter what we do. Weaker with magic. Weaker with strength. Weaker with life itself. If you are still here by tomorrow, you will feel its effects in the morning. The sense...that you don't have much time left. And we need to stop this, because I don't want to see you, the strongest person on the planet, waste away like that. And I'm sure your parents don't either."_

"Wow, uh…" Meteora gulped. "I don't really know what to say to that. But...what did you mean exactly by "weaker by the day"? If I'm getting weaker by the day, doesn't that mean that soon enough they'll come a day where I can't cast any magic at-"

"_Yes." _The Voice interjected. "_And when that day comes, all hope is lost unless we can find another magic user, because then you will never be able to be able to get back to the future."_

"And you waited until not to tell me this because…?!"

"_Because I was busy freaking out about it and trying to calculate when that day would come! I was hoping to know exactly how long we had until that happened, so I could set a deadline for us. Unfortunately, I have not found one yet. And also, unfortunately...theoretically it could be any day now. A month from now, or tomorrow. Either one." _It huffed. "_We have a while to live, but this could come at any given time."_

"Great." Meteora growled. "More horrible stuff to look forward to. Guess I'm going to die _again_. Third times the charm."

"_Don't have that attitude. You're not going to die. Not unless we…...hold on." _The Voice said. "_What do you mean by "third time"? You only died once, back in the snow just yesterday!"_

"Oh...yeah." Meteora said, rubbing her head. "You don't know. So, um basically, while I was at Ery's hut, I went into his bathroom, and a mirror version of myself tried to strangle me but backed off at the last second. I'm still...going over that whole encounter, altogether I haven't had much time after everything else." She sighed. "I mean, I didn't _literally _die that time, but it was close enough that I could sorta...feel that it was coming. A few seconds longer, and…second time."

"_...Okay, you know what, I'm not even going to ask any questions about that." _The Voice said. "_It can be discussed later. But yes. There are more horrible things to look forward to. Which is why we have to work as quickly as possible to figure out why you teleported here and if we can get back."_

"And by "we" you mean "you", right?" Meteora asked. "Because I don't know what I'm supposed to do. For one thing, I have no idea what you were doing earlier "investigating" all these problems. How does that work exactly?"

"_I go through memories, looking for answers. Sometimes I find them, sometimes I don't." _The Voice explained. "_And of course, these memories can get...glitchy, every now and then. Problems can occur, things appear that aren't supposed to be there, and so I fix them and seek out the source of the situation."_

Meteora's mind flashed back to visions of Glossaryck at the mention of glitchy memories, something she didn't and would likely never understand.

'Yeah. Thanks Glossaryck.' She thought sarcastically. 'Now that I think about it, isn't this all your fault? Creating magic? Causing all our problems in the first place? Great plan, great plan…'

"Question." Meteora said.

"_Hm? Oh, alright." _The Voice said, as if it was annoyed by the sidetrack. "_But make it quick. But are a few more things we need to discuss, and then you're waking up. What it is?"_

"What the hell was he thinking when he created all this?" Meteora asked. "How was..._any _of this a good idea? Why is this all happening? To what end?"

"_...Well…..." _The Voice mumbled, taken aback by the numerous questions. "_I'm not sure what the level five being was going for with Earth, or the universe as a whole. I mean, Earth was not even around when it was imprisoned by Lythol, so I think-" _

"Not that thing! Something as big as that will _never _have an answer!" Meteora clarified. "I'm talking about Glossaryck. What was he going for with magic? What was he trying to accomplish, if _this _is what it led up to? Mewni and Earth merged, only to be destroyed a few months later. Magic survived and was bestowed upon a few special people. Then _you _got trapped here with me! What...what was he getting out of this?"

"_..."_

"Well?" Meteora asked expectantly. "Why-"

"_Heh...heheh...HAHAHAHAHA!" _The Voice suddenly cackled, laughing like a lunatic. It was deep and guttural, but chock-full of genuine amusement. Meteora almost snapped out of it right then and there, her first reaction to the Voice laughing like this being to get away from it as soon as possible.

"_Heheheh…" _It continued, before starting to quiet down in a manner akin to a wind-up toy. "_Haha...heh…oh Meteora. Oh, that is HILARIOUS."_

"W-what is?" Meteora asked, almost trembling. "You're freaking me the hell out!"

"_Sorry...sorry…" _The Voice apologized. "_It's just...that's the funniest thing I've heard in over a century. Gods, imagine asking why a being like Glossaryck does the things he does...and you just did! It's so fucking ridiculous I just could help myself. For the first time in years, I actually had a sense of humor. Thank you for that. I need a good laugh right now."_

Meteora, who was neither used to the Voice swearing nor laughing, couldn't help but remain mildly alarmed by this sudden change of tone. Had she even heard it laugh before? Maybe, but definitely not like _this. _She still didn't get why this was so funny. Apparently the reasons for Glossaryck's actions is what passed for humor among higher-level beings.

"I-I don't get it." She stammered. "Why is that so funny?"

"_I just told you." _The Voice said humorously. "_It's funny because I find the idea of anyone trying to understand what Glossaryck absolutely ridiculous. His reasons? His plans? The point of all this? I...I can't. I just can't with that."_

The Voice giggled again, prompting another flinch from Meteora. _This..._was an action she most certainly hated. The Voice acting like this made her think that it was possessed. (Was that even possible?) A good sense of humor was something it had always lacked.

"Okay...but _why _is that so funny?!" She exclaimed. "Can you explain it to me please? Because if you don't stop laughing, I think all my reasoning that you haven't gone insane is going to before nothing."

"_Oh alright." _The Voice whined, irritated that Meteora had ended it's fun. "_Glossaryck...was known throughout the level three and fours beings as one who had no true goal. When we saw your dimension of magic in this multiverse, we laughed at the little blue man who was in charge of it. They all wondered how the hell he had kept it together for this long. To us, Glossaryck was a senile old fool who wouldn't even tie his one shoes if he didn't have too."_

"That's...honestly pretty fair." Meteora said. "From what I've heard from Jenkins, Glossaryck was really aloof. Didn't care much about anything, except for...dang it, I forgot." She groaned. "I know there was something he cared about. Jenkin always paid him off with it so the E.D.F. could travel to any dimension they liked with no consequences, but I can't remember it. Some kind of food?"

"_Actually, a being named Hekapoo was in charge of dimension travel." _The Voice said. "_Don't know why Jenkins would go to Glossaryck for permission. Wasn't his jurisdiction."_

"Ah. Yeah, I've heard a bit about her as well." Meteora said. "She and Jenkins were apparently...decently good friends, surprisingly, considering that most of his relationships with magical beings ended with a bullet to the face."

"_Yes. But if the rumors about Jenkins and Hekapoo were correct, they had a bit of a fling together at one point." _The Voice said, trying to conceal it's laughter. "_It caused quite a stir if I remember correctly."_

"What's a fling?" Meteora asked obliviously.

"_..."_

"..."

"_...It's nothing." _The Voice said, clearly disappointed. "_I was trying to make a joke just to see your reaction, but it didn't work. Figures he didn't teach you what that meant."_

"Right. So you're a prankster now or something?" Meteora queried, her tone indicating that he was not a fan of the Voice's newfound humor, especially considering how humorless it had been toward her own jokes earlier.

"_No, just until I recover from that question about Glossaryck." _The Voice said. "_But more about that. The real reason it was so funny is because we all accepted the reality that Glossaryck had no idea what he was doing and just pretended that he did."_

"Was that the truth?"

"_Maybe, maybe not. But we all pretended that it was. It was better than believing that he actually had a plan and then trying to figure it out." _The Voice elucidated. "_Because he was basically insane at times. He rarely interacted with us. I only ever saw him in person once, during a meeting of level three beings. He floated in a corner, eating pudding, ignored by all."_

"A meeting of level three beings?" Meteora muttered. "What for?"

"_Several of us foresaw an incoming cataclysm that would result in the deaths of millions of level ones and twos and dozens of us. We were all there trying to figure out what it might be. After the meeting ended because no one had any ideas, I headed to Earth to get my mind off things." _The Voice explained. "_I'm sure you can guess what that cataclysm was."_

"The destruction of magic." Meteora said confidently. "Hm. Why haven't you told me about this?" She asked, which was a question that she felt she had been repeating too often of late.

"_It never came up." _The Voice said. "_Meteora, if there is ever something I haven't told you, then it either wasn't important, or I'm waiting until the proper moment. And before you ask, yes, there are still things I haven't told you. But I can't tell you all at once because then it'd be too much. Especially now. I recall you used the phrase "too much on your plate"?"_

"Something like that." Meteora asked. "So Glossaryck…"

"_Was a joke."_

"And now he's dead." Meteora said. "I think…"

"_If he's still around, then he would be in the magic dimension and thus unable to reach us."_

"Wait-"

"_It's an empty black hole in reality, nothing more." _The Voice said, anticipating her question. "_You could go there, but the only thing you'd find is...darkness. And maybe Glossaryck."_

"Let's not." Meteora said. "Because I'm assuming there's no air to breathe."

"_Yup." _The Voice confirmed. "_Now, onto the next order of business before you wake up. We-"_

"No, just get me out of here." Meteora demanded.

"_...You want to leave? Right now?" _The Voice asked. "_But there's still a lot to go over. Things we started talking about and then dropped! We're not finished yet."_

"Then we'll finish it later." Meteora said. "How long have we been talking? A half-hour? Come on. We're wasting time. I'm tired of seeing shapes dancing in front of my eyes but constantly being unable to decipher them. I'm tired of talking about Jenkins and magic and Ery and...and me! We have our little chats from time to time. I get that. But I can't keep up like this." She blew a puff of air. "It's like you said. We keep talking about stuff and drop it five seconds later when we move on to something else."

"_Yes, we really need to fix that. It's rather irritating."_

"Imagine how irritating it'd be for someone reading it." Meteora said. "But...can we please do this later? In my dreams tonight? Because there's something I saw that I need to tell you. It's about Glossaryck. It's why I'm interested in him in the first place. And I think...I need your expertise in figuring it out."

"_...I see." _The Voice said, sounding slightly nervous. "_Very well. For now, at least, we're done. But one last thing Meteora. Remember what I said. You tell your parents everything. I'll be in your head if you need any help, but don't lie. It's time to accept our situation, and we'll never get anywhere if we do nothing but deceive them."_

"Yeah. Because that's the only thing I've been doing to them. Lying." Meteora sighed, wondering if a single thing she said to her parents had been the truth.

"_And now...it's time to make a change." _The Voice said. "_So-"_

"No. One last _last _thing." Meteora interjected. "Just so you know, I still don't forgive you for what you said earlier. That's far from over. And while I'm not going to have any more courtroom nonsense, because I'll be honest, even I don't know what the hell that was, it kinda came out of nowhere..." She admitted softly. "I still want you to understand that even after all you've done for me, I don't want you joking about stuff like that. I'm...sensitive to it." Meteora mumbled. "Okay?"

"_...Okay." _The Voice said, now sounding thoroughly ashamed_. "And now...wake up."_

"..."

"_..."_

"..."

"_Well?" _

"I...I'm still not sure how this even works you know." Meteora revealed. "How I'm still unable to see or hear anything going on outside. Do I just focus or…?"

"_Yeah. Do that. Or I could just do this." _The Voice said, not in the mood to mention that it had been slightly altering Meteora's mind for a while so they could talk without any interruptions. It lifted the veil, and Meteora was suddenly able to see actual shapes again, instead of colorful but incomprehensible blobs.

She blinked.

And she breathed in a gulp of air like she had been holding her breath for the last hour.

Her eyes darted around, trying to figure out where she was, only to see...darkness.

"Ah, what the hell?" She said. "What is-"

"_I believe you're staring at a ceiling." _The Voice said. _And lying on a bed…"_

Meteora paused and then pushed herself up, her arms aching and numb. She glanced around as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, moonlight spilling in through a nearby window. She could see the illuminations of the town in the distance, something that was a completely new sight to her. It was like a thousand stars glittering all at once, only now they were situated in the ground. A sea of starlight.

"On my god." She exclaimed. "How long were we talking? It was barely evening when my parents found me!"

"_We did have a lot to discuss…" _The Voice said.

"Yeah, but this is ridiculous." Meteora said. "Here's hoping it's an eclipse."

"_If that was the case, the town wouldn't have all their lights on." _The Voice said. "_But yes, this is unusual. But nothing to worry about. We simply talked for much longer than suspected, nothing else. And look at it this way: we didn't wake up in a dungeon."_

"True. Thank level five for that. Of course, it could just be a really fancy dungeon. My mom seems like the kind person who prefers to forgive people rather than punish them." Meteora said.

"_We are not in a dungeon, considering how far away those lights are. We are rather high up." _The Voice said. "_But let's not waste time talking about dungeons. Get up and figure out where your parents are so we can sort this whole mess out."_

"Probably in their bedroom, theorizing about what all the crazy stuff I was going on about earlier means…"

"_They're not doing that. Considering that we are in their bedroom."_ The Voice said.

"Really?" Meteora said, checking her surroundings much more carefully this time. And the Voice was right. This was their bedroom, and this was their bed. Why would they put her there? Did they seriously not have any spare beds in this place? "Huh. That's...odd."

"_Agreed." _The Voice said. "_Now-"_

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." Meteora said. She scooted off the bed and rubbed her head a couple times like she just woke up from a nap. She listened closely to the noises coming from around her, only to hear none. It was like the whole place was deserted. But she pressed on, knowing full well that it wasn't. It was actually kind of annoying. She had spent what felt like an eternity in the dark a while ago, and now she had been thrust back into it. Clearly her parents didn't think she would wake up until morning. There wasn't even a night light! Or...anything lighting up the Temple, as far as she could tell. All the hallways were devoid of it.

"Okay, not gonna lie, this is kinda freaky…" She whispered. "I feel like I should call out for them, but there's a part of me that doesn't want to."

"_Don't want to disturb the silence, eh?" _The Voice guessed, upon which Meteora nodded and confirmed that it was right on the money. "_If you don't want to, that's alright. We can keep searching for them. Besides, it's entirely possible that they're currently asleep right now, and gave you their bed because they wanted to give you the best of the best. So calling out for them might only shock them awake, which is a situation you don't want to be a part of."_

Meteora huffed. "Don't make me laugh." She whispered. "After what I told them? They'll be up all night talking about it, and-"

"_Wait, so you hear that?"_

"Huh? Hear wha….." Meteora began to say, before a far-off voice caught her attention. It sounded like...Eclipsa? _Her parents. _She took a deep breath and began speed-walking towards the noise, taking care not to numb into anything. Before long, she came across a thin sodden door, light shining through its outline."

"Guess they're in there." She whispered. "What did I tell you? Nobody would sleep after that!"

"_Quite. I assume this is some sort of study. Like the one Relicor had back at the Lucitor castle."_

"You think they have a computer in there like he did?" Meteora asked. "I've never actually seen a working one before…"

"_A quick reminder that his was broken." _The Voice said. "_Also, if you want to see a computer, I could just show it to you in my memories."_

"Maybe later then." Meteora said. "But for now…" She reached forward and pressed her hand against the door. The voices were still muffled, but much more audible now. It was time. Without waiting another moment, she pushed her arm out and the door swung open almost in slow motion, revealing her mother and father sitting in ornate armchairs, cups of what appeared to be some steaming brown liquid in their hands, and both of them frozen at the sight of her, mouths gaping open.

"Hey…" She said, giving them a wave like it was the first time she met them.

"You guys probably have a lot of questions…"

**End chapter 38**

**A/N: Yeesh, what a chapter. Longest one yet, although I certainly didn't intend for it to be that way. Sorry for the long wait, but the Meteora****/Voice scene kinda got out of hand. As for the Mariposa one, I wanted to get back to that later, but it'll be moved to the beginning of the next. And yes, the note about the Voice altering her mind to talk to her **_**was **_**serious. It can do that. Although their next conversation...will be much shorter.**

**And Jenkins did not have a real fling with Hekapoo, that was also a total joke. Although they did have quite a few interactions, most of which were kinda...positive. **

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	39. Chapter 39: The Beast and the God below

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 39**

**The Beast and the God below**

"Maybe it's this one...maybe once I turn _this _corner, I'll finally come across a...dammit! I...no. This is okay. This is fine. You're not lost. It's just dark, and you're having trouble finding the way back. You're not lost. _You're not lost."_

Mariposa...was lost.

Specifically, in the ruined hallways of the darkened Butterfly castle, which had become maze-like ever since night had fallen. At first, she thought it'd be easy. The way back was simple. Mariposa has made sure to memorize the path she took earlier, and soon believed that she could traverse that same path in reverse easily enough.

She was mistaken.

Because somewhere along the way, she must have taken a wrong turn. She didn't know _when _exactly, but it happened, and now she was stuck. Wandering around with no sense of direction, and relying only on the hope that she would randomly stumble upon the entrance. And to make matters worse, she was in the part of the castle that had no windows, so it wasn't like she could climb down from anything.

Of course, considering how stale the air was becoming, _and _after all the staircases she had descended, it was quite possible that she was now underground, which would explain the unfortunate lack of windows. The floor beneath her had shifted into regular stone instead of the fancy carved stone that covered the rest of the castle. No need for fanciness in a place that hardly anyone's gonna see after all.

'This sucks..._so _much.' She thought. 'I swear, I'm never coming back to this castle after I get out. Not even during the day. I really underestimated just how big this place is. I should have just stayed here for the night and fallen asleep on the floor next to that window. Then even if I _still _got lost afterward, I'd at least have some light!'

She pressed her fingertips into the wall beside her, which was one of the only things that helped her know where she was going. With the lack of moonlight guiding her, she was now effectively blind, unlike the semi-darkness that was presented to her in the upper levels of the castle. She couldn't see her hands in front of her face, and occasionally tripped over some random stone or statue, or whatever else was littering the floor. Which was why she was moving at approximately 1 mph. Better to move slow then possibly fall over and crack her head open.

And like the floor, the wall told her where she was too. It was now hard stone as well, with indents and a brick-like formation. Truly, she was at the lowest point in the castle. But where? Torture chambers? Servants quarters? The dungeons perhaps-

Before she could contemplate this further, Mariposa gasped and then let out a childlike "eep!" as her hands brushed across something cold and metallic. She yanked it away, took up a defensive pose similar to a boxers, and stood still for a moment, panting slightly from the sudden adrenaline.

A moment later, she groaned out of embarrassment for her overreaction, letting her body go slack as she realized that there was no threat here, just a new surface she wasn't expecting. She moved her hand back towards the metal, which she could feel was vaguely bar-shaped and reached out to the ceiling. Mariposa frowned and moved her hand to the side, coming across another, then another, then five more, all identical in composition and size.

'Well that's just great.' She thought. 'I really am in dungeons. Or what's left of them.' She looked around, even though such a gesture was pointless. 'I wonder if anyone managed to survive by hiding down here. Seems pretty sturdy...not to mention far enough underground that the blast shouldn't have touched it. And since I haven't felt any stray rocks on the floor for a while…'

She huffed, shook her head, and stored the thought for later reference. Escape now, think later. Even if anyone _had _hidden down here, they'd be long gone. Archibald would have found them, and…

'...Hey.' She thought. 'If that's true, then why the hell didn't Archibald come across the Avarius's? Did he purposefully cover them up or-'

Before she could finish her thought, what felt like a hand abruptly brushed a single strand of her hair. Large. Misshapen. Dirty. But not a single one of these facts mattered in the slightest to Mariposa, and one millisecond later her eyes widened as she responded as calmly and appropriately as possible.

"AHHHH!" She screeched, whipping her knife out and slung randomly in the direction of the appendage, not even bothering to try and take up a proper fighting position. Fear overtook instinct as she stabbed and slashed wildly as fast she could, before slamming her back up against the bars and moving along them, still swinging her weapon like a lunatic.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Mariposa breathed furiously, moving as fast as she could while still being able to properly attack. 'What the hell was that?' She thought. 'There shouldn't be anyone down here! Don't tell me this is _another _group of people we missed! We already came across one, don't need another, thank you!'

Her thoughts remained a mystery as whatever had touched her silently slunk away into the inner depths of the dungeon, leaving the girl far behind. None of which Mariposa was aware of, as she kept moving to the side and attacking in every direction, not wanting to give her mystery visitor any advantage.

'Can they see me? Was that on purpose?' She thought. 'Or did they just touch me by accident? Jenkins and Katrina never said anything about monsters being able to see in the dark, but then again, nothing like that ever came up…and it might not even be a monster.'

She gulped and slowly lowered her knife, deciding that it'd be best to conserve her attack energy and instead get as far away from this place as possible.

'Okay. Have to get out. I have to get out now.' She hissed. 'It doesn't matter if this person's a friend or foe, they became the latter the second they poked me like that. What are they even thinking?! You don't sneak up on people in the apocalypse! That's just asking to get shot. Or stabbed! Or worse!' She grit her teeth as she felt the blade of her knife, blood-free with no signs that she hit her mark. 'Damn it...I don't think I got them. Which unfortunately means they're faster than freaked out me, so if they decide to attack…'

She shook her head again. 'No. Don't think about it now. Just focus on finding an exit. If this person got in the same way I did, I would have least heard their footsteps or breathing. Even though…' She sighed and closed her eyes. '...I didn't hear either of those when they came up behind me.'

Mariposa ignored this little tidbit of information and speed-walked on, keeping her back flat against the wall and her ears open for anything. She had her breathing at such a low frequency that only the only thing she could make out was her heartbeat, fast and frightened.

At least, she hoped that it was _her _heartbeat. If it was something else's...she didn't want to know.

'Should have listened to Jenkins. Should have never come back here.' She chided. 'He was so right. This place is like a living hell in the dark. And how…' She bit her lip and felt an urge to draw blood. '...did I even fall asleep in the first place?! What happened after I took down that tapestry? I looked around...I inspected a few more...but I didn't remember ever leaving that room. Did I seriously just lie down and take a nap?' She pondered. 'That's not something I would do. It's not like I'd just-'

With all the suddenness of a bolt of lighting, another hand brushed up against her ankle, the exact same one that had touched her arm earlier. She didn't scream this time, but instead tensed up and swung the knife downwards as hard as she could. She actually managed to nail it this time, and felt it hit something...soft? Leathery? Why would it be-

Before she could think about this further, an insane screeching noise rang out, and she covered her eardrums instinctively, while the hand recoiled and retreated ten times faster than the last time. The noise continued for a few seconds before dissipating, although the echoes were still being broadcasted throughout the castle. Mariposa took her hands away from her ears and trembled silently. Whatever it was, all that knife had done was made it angry. That shout hasn't been out of pain. It had been out of rage. And worst of all, she was still stuck down here with it, with no way of knowing if she was headed the right way or not.

'Goddammit.' She thought. 'Great. Now I've pissed the damn thing off, whatever it is. And that hand...that _definitely _didn't feel like any kind of hand I've felt before. My damn knife sunk into it with no resistance whatsoever. What even is it? Some kind of special type of monster we haven't encountered before?'

Mariposa growled like an irritated dog and made up her mind. 'Screw it. Time to take a tactical standpoint. If I'm going to fight this thing, I need to know what it is, and what it wants.' She snarled. 'It's going to come back. I know that. Probably to grab my arm or leg. But when that happens...just wait. Wait and see what comes next. See what it wants to do. Yes, it's a stupid plan. Yes, it probably wants to kill me now. But I'm blind, and this thing could have fifty arms for all I know. I need to see it. I need to see some kind of light…'

With that settled, Mariposa continued to inch along the wall, knife at the ready with a plan not to use it. At least not immediately. If it touched her and it was hostile, she'd retaliate. But if it didn't, and just brushed against her again...then reason would be ignored and she would take on a "wait and see" attitude.

God, how she hated this.

But she couldn't think of any other option. She needed to know who, or _what _the enemy was.

'Come on…' She thought. 'I know you're still there you bastard. Stop lazing around and do something-'

A finger brushed against her cheek before she could finish, almost with perfect timing. She winced and froze at the touch, but fought back the indescribable urge to slap it away. It had to be like this. She couldn't be slashing wildly. If she learned one thing, just _one thing _about this enemy besides the fact that it liked the dark, it could help. Anything could at this point.

'Okay. Stay calm.' She told herself. 'Stay calm. It's not attacking you...yet.' Which was putting it lightly. Despite the screeching sounds from earlier, the hand she felt was poking her cheek like she was a valuable object, carefully and with precision. But the oddest part was how it felt. It didn't feel like a real hand. It felt more like...cotton? Clothes? Lint? And not like a person wearing a glove. No, this felt like the "person" was made _entirely _out of the material.

"What the hell…" She muttered aloud, once she finally realized what was going on. "What are you supposed to-"

"Remind me…" A soft voice whispered. Mariposa sucked her breath in at the voice. Raspy, but somehow like a child in tone. Curious, almost. "Remind me...of _him."_

"Him?" Mariposa asked, as the hand suddenly vanished again. "Who is hi-"

Without a moment's warning, the hand latched onto her ankle and yanked, sending her flying to the ground with a yelp. Mariposa fell flat on her back and groaned, but before she could do anything else, she felt herself suddenly being dragged away by her leg at what felt like twenty feet per second. Every single one of her limbs was roughly scraped against the stone floor as she was pulled further into the darkness, clueless as to where she was going. Well, besides the fact that she knew it was somewhere she _didn't want to go_.

"Dammitdammitdammit!" She screamed, trying to lift her dagger up to reach her leg. But she was moving too fast to get a good look, and trying to attack might result in her stabbing her own leg. All she could do right now was hang on and hope whatever was on the other end of this arm was merciful.

But is that what she _actually _did?

No, of course not.

She slashed with the knife anyways and felt it fly by her skin and miss an artery by no more than an inch. But it did make contact with what it was supposed to. The dagger cut through the cotton arm with ease, and another screech was heard as it let go of her, hissing loudly.

And the second she was free, Mariposa wasted no time. She ignored the bloody scrapes, the dozens of bruises, and the several holes and tears that had just been made in her clothes. She scrambled to her feet and ran in the opposite direction with everything she had. Screw the blindness, screw the darkness, anywhere was better than here. She just had to get out. She had to get the _hell _of her-

"WAIT!" The voice called out. "Please. Don't leave. Stay. Stay…"

'What the…' Mariposa thought, but this was her only reaction as she ignored this pleading and kept running…only to trip on a fallen piece of rock and land flat on her face.

"AGH!" She screamed, shooting upright and grasping her now aching nose. She still couldn't see, but she could sure _feel _what had happened to it. A sticky and warm wetness, which she had felt enough times to know was blood. Lots of it. Her nose wasn't broken, thankfully, but it was definitely going to be a major hindrance, along with all the other minor injuries she had just sustained. Truly, nothing was going her way.

Mariposa then attempted to get up again, knowing the Creature was still out there, but her legs refused to cooperate and protested by sending out a massive blast of pain. She fell back down to the ground, no better from where she left off. Furiously whispered curses rang out in the darkness, almost a beacon for anything else hiding in it. She flipped herself over and landed on her back again, panting and grunting in pain. She tried to suck in some air, but each breath made it feel like her ribs were broken. There wasn't a single part of her that _didn't_ ache in some way, and Mariposa was left to deal with it.

'Son of a bitch.' She thought. 'This is rock-bottom. First I get stuck down there, then some unknown monster tries to drag me away, and now I'm covered in so many bruises that I can't even walk without passing out! Not to mention the nose…' She gulped and wondered if she should shake the blood away from her. Her hand was drenched, and if she wasn't careful she'd end up with a blood-soaked shirt like her sister...although it was probably too late to avoid that.

'No, that's a terrible idea.' She thought. 'If I do it, I'll just spread it everywhere and basically announce to that _thing _where I am. Here's hoping it's not some kind of vampire, because otherwise I'm-"

"Injured." _It_ suddenly said, sounding like it was right on top of her. Mariposa gasped and tried to scoot away, but her back muscles yelled at her and forced her to remain where she was.

"You. Hurt. You...are...hurt…"

'Yeah, thanks for noticing you...wait. Why is it talking like that?' Mariposa thought, intrigue overtaking her anger. 'It's...like a child experimenting with new words for the first time. What the hells going on?"

"Uh...yeah." She said, deciding that it would be best, for now, to try and be friendly to it. Maybe it'd forgive her for those earlier assaults. "I'm hurt. And...uh, bleeding. I don't suppose you have any bandages? Maybe a tissue or something…?"

"No." It said. "No...tissue. But clothes. Fabric. Have that. Many, many, of...them."

"I...guess that works?" Mariposa said nervously, with a tone that said _please don't kill me_. "Could you bring me one? One of your clothes? I...I'll take what I can get."

"Very...well." It said, and then disappeared. For a second Mariposa almost thought she could hear it gliding through the air away from her, forming a wind-esque sound. She sighed and scooted to the right until she hit the stone wall again, tears appearing in her eyes at the sudden state of agony her back was just put in.

'Feels like I fell off a cliff…' She whined. 'Think Mariposa. Think. How can you get out of this one? It's not attacking me or dragging me away anymore. I'm not sure if it was even trying to do that back there… maybe just attempting to show me something without understanding I could make the journey by myself. Either way, I should play by its rules. This thing definitely isn't any kind of normal monster. Otherwise Jenkins would have told us at one point to beware of monsters that can do...well, things like this!' She huffed. 'But the way it speaks…'

Mariposa closed her eyes again and blocked off the world, going over what the Creature had said to her. 'I reminded it of someone.' She thought. 'Of...him? Hm. That doesn't really help. Who would I remind it of? And _why _did I remind it of someone? All it did was touch my cheek? What could it possibly gauge from that?'

Then something flashed across her memories. About who had lived in this castle before, and who this Creature might have come in contact with. It was so obvious she almost slapped herself for not immediately thinking of it, considering how many of Jenkins stories and tales contained him.

'Oh...shit…' She thought. 'My...my brother? Marco? I-is he the guy this thing is talking about? He lived in this castle at one point. He might have seen this thing. Although that doesn't explain how it knew I was related to him with that one action...maybe it had some kind of super-sense? It'd explain how it keeps finding me in the dark, not to mention-'

"Back." The Creature said, knocking Mariposa out of her mind. "Returned. I...have...returned. Brought...what...you...asked."

Before Mariposa could speak up, she felt a towel-like cloth suddenly fall on top of her head, muffling her breath and further obscuring her senses. She ripped it off and covered her entire nose with it, wiping most of the blood off her hand and face in the process.

"Thanks." She said reluctantly, mostly because it was the thing that caused this injury in the first place. "I...um…geez...uh…"

"Okay?" It asked. "Are...you...okay? Seem...confused."

"I'm fine." Mariposa said. "Sorry, it's just that I don't know where to take this next. I don't know what's going on, where I am in the castle, how I can get out, or what _you _are. So if it's not too much trouble...could you please show me an exit?" She asked, fighting off the urge to say "get me the hell out of here".

"Can't." It said. "Exit...forgotten. Can't...remember."

"You don't know how to get out of here?" Mariposa queried, greatly disappointed with this answer. "Seriously?"

"...No." The Creature said. "Don't know. Lost."

"How do you..._not _know where the exit is?" Mariposa asked, peeved. "I'm going to assume you've been down here for years, right?"

"Years?" The Creature said curiously, as if hearing the word for the first time. "What...is...years?"

"It's a...unit of measurement? For time?" Mariposa replied. "Okay, just…" She rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "Answer me this. How long have you been down here?"

"Don't…know." It said. "Too long. Long...enough...for...memories...to die. So...many things...lost. Speech...degrading. Mind...shattered. Hunger...for anything. Want...life."

"Why haven't you tried to get out?" Mariposa asked, ignoring the ominous hunger comment."If you've been here for so long that your memories have started fading, why haven't you already escaped?"

"Scared." The Creature replied. "Of dark. So long. So...cold. So...many...walls. Cells. Endless. Reminds...me...of home. Afraid...I'll...get lost."

"Well, _I'm_ lost now, and I could really use your help." Mariposa said, before exhaling dramatically and putting on the nicest tone she could muster. "Listen, I know I just stabbed you a few seconds ago, and I'm sorry for that, but-"

"No...need...apologize." It said. "Hurt...but no...damage done. Heal. Repair. Instantly. You...no threat...to me."

'Oh, _that's _comforting.' Mariposa thought, wiping her nose again. It had stopped bleeding a minute ago but now felt clogged to the point where her sense of smell was totally nonexistent. That issue would have to come later however. For now, she gulped and spoke up again, wanting to get back to the earlier topic. "Okay...but like I was saying, I really need your help. There are people I need to get back to. I can't stay down here for long."

"People?"

"My...my family." Mariposa stuttered. "My sister is missing, and my...dad is currently freaking out trying to find her, and probably freaking because now I'm gone too! So...I need to get back to him so I can help find Meteora."

"Meteora…" The Creature whispered.

"Yeah. That's my sister's name. She-"

"Familiar." It interjected, now sounding like it had just remembered something. "Meteora...familiar. Name...heard it...before."

"You-you know her?" Mariposa asked, before wondering if Meteora had come here just like she did. "Wait, was she here? Recently? Maybe she told you her name, or-"

"No. You. Only visitor. Only visitor...since screams." The Creature sighed. "No Meteora. No one else."

"Screams…? Oh, the bomb." Mariposa muttered disappointingly. "Fifteen years then...at the very least. It's been stuck down here for that long. But…" She wasn't giving up that easily. "Are you sure you didn't see her? Hear anything at all?"

"No. Silence. Only silence. You...heartbeat. Breathing. Heard it. Reached...out." It said, now sounding like an old storyteller. "Wanted...to see. To feel. To _know_."

"Well, you sure had a creepy way of doing it." Mariposa pointed out. "Bit of advice, if you ever meet another person, don't try and...feel them like that. Because honestly, I could have used a word a lot worse than "creepy"." She shifted in place. "Thank god you didn't decide to grab something else…"

"What...do...you mean?"

"Nothing." Mariposa said, her face flushing. "Listen, if you haven't seen my sister, and you don't know where the exit is…" She growled that last part. "...then I need to ask you about something else. Is that okay?"

"Depends." The Creature whispered.

"Depends on what?"

"Depends...on...answer." It said. "Not all-knowing. Don't...know...many things. Taught things...but very...specifically. Questions you...have. Unlikely...I will...have answer."

"Then what _do _you know?" Mariposa asked. "Because if I'm going to be stuck down here for a while, I think we should get to know each other a little better."

"You first."

"Me first?" Mariposa repeated. "You want me to go first?"

"Yes." The Creature said. "Uncomfortable...talking...to stranger."

"Wow...you...you really are like a little kid." Mariposa said, still wondering how a being with this personality currently had so much control over her. "Okay then. I'll give you the straight facts. My name is Mariposa Diaz. I've been...living, I guess, in that wasteland outside the castle my whole life with my sister Meteora Butterfly, who I already told you I was searching for, and my foster father Jenkins. I don't know his last name or if that _is _his last name, he never told us. But that's everyone I've been living with. Just me and those two."

"...Interesting." It whispered.

"Yeah...but do those names sound familiar to you?"

"Thinking." The Creature huffed. "Meteora...somewhat. Jenkins...unsure. Heard once. Spoken by...human like you."

"Human _like_ me?" Mariposa echoed. "Uhhh...do you mean a girl?"

"What's...that?"

"...Nevermind." Mariposa sighed. "But what did you mean by "human like me" exactly?"

"Earlier...reminded." It said. "Reminded me...of him. Red garments. Had...odd style...of fighting. Hurt me. Took me...apart. But reformed. Always...reform…"

"Red garment...Marco." Mariposa gasped, tempering hoe Jenkins said he had a fondness for red hoodies. "You know my brother? Marco Diaz?"

"Mar...co?" The Creature rasped. "His name...Marco?"

"Mm-hm. It is." Mariposa said. "He's my brother. A member of my real, biological family. Maybe the only one I have left…" She bit the inside of her mouth gently and sighed. "B-but that doesn't matter now. Because I need to know. Did you come in contact with him before the apocalypse? What was he like? Were you friends or enemies?"

"..."

"Oh...sorry if I was putting a lot on you there." Mariposa apologized. "It's just that Jenkins was the only one I've met who _really _knew my brother except for Janna, so I was hoping that you could tell me things about him that he never told me."

"Interaction with...Marco...brief." It said. "Very...brief. And painful. He...hurt. Hurt me. Tried to...kill me. Almost did. But never died. Can...never die. No matter what. Still here. Always waiting. No people...for...so long." It made a soft breathing noise, and Mariposa felt like it was right next to her ear. "What...happened outside? Mentioned...bomb earlier. Bomb happened?"

"Wait, you know what a bomb is, but not a year?" Mariposa asked. "What kind of prioritization is that?"

"Bomb...mentioned." It said. "Many, many times. By...evil man."

"Evil man?"

"_Knight." _The Creature seethed with rage. "Knight of...the wash. Keeper...of laundry. Master...of dry-cleaning. Lavabo."

'Okay, this is starting to get too weird, even for me. But just go with it. It'll be over soon, if you say the right things.' Mariposa thought. "Those are some...colorful titles." She said sheepishly. "So you didn't like this guy?"

"No. Bad. Hurt me." It said. "Marco...apprentice. His...apprentice. Hate him. Hate _them. _Want revenge. _Need _revenge. Always...hunger for revenge."

"Okayyyy…" Mariposa said nervously, not at all surprised that someone wanted to kill her brother but definitely disturbed that _this _thing was one of them. She desperately searched for a way to change the topic. "Uhh...do you want me to tell you what happened to the world now?"

"Yes please." The Creature said curiously, like a little kid excited to learn something new.

"Okay, so basically, an "evil man", like the one that tried to hurt you, named Seth decided that he didn't like all the people living on Earthni." Mariposa explained. "And before you ask, Earthni is the name of the planet we're currently on. It used to have other names at an earlier point, but that changed."

"Why?"

"That's...a whole other story." Mariposa said. "I'll tell you later. But anyway, Seth hated everyone and decided that he wanted to kill them all. So he stormed the base of the E.D.F., which was a human-run organization that kept the world safe."

"Bad...at...their job?" The Creature guessed. "If...Earthni gone...then...they failed."

"Yeah. Just don't say that out loud in front of Jenkins." Mariposa sighed. "But he stormed the base using an army of...clones of himself, apparently, and took over their weapons system. Now he had control of every nuclear weapon on Earthni. Do you know what a nuke is?"

"Bigger...bomb?"

"Pretty much." Mariposa said. "So big that enough of them could wipe out most life on the planet. So Seth did just that. He pressed a couple of buttons, and…" She made an explosion sound. "It all went up in flames. I'm one of the survivors, and I was only a baby when it happened. So everything is just stuff that Jenkins and a few other people told me."

"End...of story?" The Creature asked.

"Mm-hm. That's the end." Mariposa confirmed. "I left some parts out, but that's the gist of it. Seth is to blame for all of this, and as for me and my family...we're busy trying to survive. But it's hard with all the scavengers attempting to kill us along with the enemies we made in the recent month."

"What...enemies? Who?"

"Eh...you probably have no idea who any of them are." Mariposa said. "One of thems named Janna, who I mentioned earlier, and she's a former sorta-friend of Jenkins turned evil sadistic magic-user hell-bent on murdering us. She's also the same person who babysat me and my sister when we were younger, so...just an interesting bit of information there."

"Janna's...turned...evil?" The Creature said, sounding surprisingly heartbroken. "Why? She...was...friend. Kind. To me."

"Wait, you knew Janna? You were _friends_ with her_? _Seriously?" Mariposa asked incredulously. "How did that happen? Did she just...come across you one day like I did?"

"Yes. Found me." The Creature said happily. "Was searching...castle. Back when it...was still uninhabited."

"Okay, sidetracking here for a second, why would the castle ever be uninhabited back then?" Mariposa asked. "I'm pretty sure it was the home of the entire Butterfly Royal family. Was there something Jenkins didn't tell me about?"

"It would...seem so." The Creature said. "Castle heavily damaged. Attacked. Attacked...by creature. Giant, purple monster. Stole their souls. Smashed...through walls with ease." The Creature sounded like it had just taken a deep breath, and Mariposa almost thought she could feel it on her face. Cold, and smelling like those mothball things she came across once in some ruins. "But monster defeated." It continued. "Day saved. But castle...castle broken. Too much damage...for repairs."

"So they abandoned it?" Mariposa guessed. "Just like that?"

"Yes. And most...everything in it." The Creature explained. "Including me. Forgotten. Left to rot. Mind no longer...feral. No longer...a monster of my own. Wanted friend. Wanted friendship. Wanted...someone there for me."

"Jeez…" Mariposa said softly, not sure what to say after a story like that. "And Janna found you after all that?"

"Yes. Came one day. Had already...scared off people. Wanted to be friends. Wanted to be nice. But got too...grabby." It said.

"Yeah, that'll make you lose your friends real quick." Mariposa mumbled. "And it definitely looks like you didn't learn your lesson, based on how you tried to greet me…"

"Apologies." It said. "Explained already. Wanted to see. Wanted to...know. Too dark. Too dark to know."

"It's okay." Mariposa said, although she was still wondering if she should forgive this thing or not. She probably would have already, if it hadn't tried to drag her away like that. "I would have done the exact same thing if I was stuck down here for a decade and a half…" She rested her head against the back of the wall. "But what happened after Janna found you?"

"She...wasn't scared. Curious instead. Wanted to...be friends. Like I had...always hoped." The Creature said. "Visited every...once in a while. Visits were nice. Told stories. About...outside world. Taught me things. Earth and Mewni. Other dimensions. Television. Magic. Books. Nature. Animals. Air. Science. Math. Everything…"

"Really? I never fancied Janna being a good teacher." Mariposa said. "She really cared about you then, huh?"

"Felt sorry...for me." The Creature said. "Told her my story. She said...that she wanted to help. Wanted to get...me out. Free me. But first. Had to learn. Had to know. Had to know what...people were like."

"So that you wouldn't scare anyone else away." Mariposa surmised. "That was actually a really nice thing for her to do. She...basically took care of you for no reason other than the fact that she wanted to help out. Damn." She rubbed a hand over her head. "It's honestly pretty shocking to hear about her like this. Back when she was actually...a good person."

"Mmm...what happened...to her?" It asked. "Said that she's...bad now."

"I honestly don't know _what_ happened to her." Mariposa said. "I'm not sure anyone does. Jenkins always said she was a trickster, that she liked to spy on people and do her own thing all the time. And that she was also associated with the occult."

"Occult?"

"Dark magic club basically." Mariposa answered. "She was apparently obsessed with it. So...I guess she took that obsession a little too seriously, and it consumed her."

"...Sad." The Creature lamented. "Used to...be friendly. Thought gone. Thought she died. But this...this is worse. Would rather...she died...then stop...being nice."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you otherwise." Mariposa said again. "But are you sure she was nice simply because she felt _sorry_ for you? Jenkins told us that she was pretty aloof most of the time. And she wasn't exactly "nice".

"Yes. Definitely. Always nice." The Creature said. "But day came...eventually. Day before that...told me...she would break me out. Was excited. Shaking with anticipation. But...friend...never came. No one came. Waited. Waited all day. Hoping. Wishing that...she would arrive. But...never did."

"She just _abandoned_ you like that?" Mariposa exclaimed. "But why?"

"No idea. First thought...I did something wrong. My fault. But then...thought she died." It explained. "Mourned. But tried to...get out anyway. Searched for exit. But dark...darkness appeared. And memory...came back. Friend told me once...world is full...of darkness. Not all people...good as her. Mocked. Attacked. Feared. The life...that awaited me. I couldn't. Didn't want...to face...that life...so soon. So stayed. Here. Patiently. Waited...for someone else. Terrified...of the darkness beyond."

"...Oh my god..." Mariposa said, actually getting chills from these words. "That's pretty crazy. I just don't know how else to put it."

"Tragic?" The Creature recommended.

"...Yeah. That works." Mariposa said. "But this is all because you were afraid of the dark? But you weren't afraid of the _actual_ dark, just the darkness that Janna told you the world was covered in?" She asked, before biting the inside of her lip. "But I thought you said you were scared of getting lost, and that's why you didn't leave."

"It is...both. Don't want to...get lost. Don't want to...face darkness. So many fears. So many reasons...for me to stay" It said. "But now _you're_ here. Maybe...you can help. I _need _your help."

"With what?" Mariposa asked. "Do you want me to convince you to leave?"

"Would be a start." The Creature said. "And teach me...about what world is...like now. You claimed...bombs destroyed everything. Didn't know. Never knew. If world destroyed...then some darkness gone. Reason to leave. But need you. To teach. To help me."

"You want me to be your...teacher?" Mariposa asked incredulously. "Just like Janna was?"

"Yes. You...are kind. May have...attacked me. But understandable. Grabbed you. Scared you. Natural instinct...is to attack. Don't blame you. Forgive you. And now…" The Creature said. "Want you...to help me."

"Ah...I'm not sure how to think about that." Mariposa admitted sheepishly. "Listen...I'm sorry that you were stuck down here. I'm sorry that my brother attacked you. And I'm sorry that Janna never came back. But...I can't help you. I'm not a teacher. And like I was talking about earlier, I have people I need to get back to. I can't stay here and help you."

"No. Don't have to...stay here forever." The Creature explained. "Just...every now and then. Visit. Tell me stories. About the world. About...it's people. About what I need to do...to fit in. Like _she _did. And maybe...one day...leave. Finally leave. Escape...to new lands. New life. New home."

"Like the settlement…" Mariposa said softly. "You could come with us there. Maybe you could help out."

"What's...settlement?"

"There's this place a hundred miles away from here." Mariposa explained. "It's comprised of most of the survivors from this town, or...at least the ones that didn't go to the Underworld." She shrugged. "There might be a few people that you saw or heard of at one point. I think you could get out of here, and follow us there. Make the new life you're talking about. If you're not hostile...they'd definitely take you in. We're all about trying to bring peace between different species after all."

"Really?" The Creature said hopefully. "Out there...already waiting...a new home?"

"Yeah!" Mariposa said enthusiastically. "I'd have to explain a lot of things to Jenkins, and we still have to find my sister, but you could totally come with us!"

"I...I like this." The Creature said. "But how far...is one hundred miles?"

"Uh...pretty far." Mariposa said. "It'd take a while. A couple days, depending on how many stops we would take. But it's nothing we haven't handled before!"

"Nothing _you _haven't." The Creature reminded her. "Never even left...room I'm in. Only arms. Bits and pieces. To actually _leave _this place...a journey I can only dream...of undertaking. At least...right now."

"You'll..._we'll_ get there." Mariposa promised. "I'm sure of it. And if it's only going to be visits…" She took a deep breath and hoped she was making the right choice. "...then _maybe _I can come down here and try to teach you. Answer whatever questions you want and help. How does that sound?"

"Already...my plan." The Creature said. "Is it okay...if we start now?"

"Well…okay. But only a couple questions." Mariposa said. "I have places to be. Like...wherever Jenkins is. He's probably lost his mind by now."

"Okay…first." The Creature said joyfully. "What is...a brother?"

"A _brother_?" Mariposa repeated.

"Yes." The Creature said. "Heard you say...that Marco...is your brother. Don't know...what that means. Remind me of him...assume that you've come in contact...with him before. Does brother...mean friend? Acquaintance?"

"Janna was really selective on what she taught you, huh?" Mariposa guessed. "No. Not really. A brother is...more than a friend. Or _supposed _to be at least. I don't think I could actually be called friends with mine, since we've never met...but I'm sure we'd get along."

"More than friends…" The Creature echoed. "Lover?"

"Wha-NO!" Mariposa screeched, disgusted/horrified at the same time. "No! No! Definitely not! Not lovers! Don't even...make me think about that, god."

"Why...so wrong?" The Creature asked innocently. "Why is...that bad?"

"Because...it's not right!" Mariposa stuttered. "It's...wrong! And gross! And creepy! You can't..._do _stuff like in the real world! Everyone will look down on you, and for good reason too!"

"Why though?"

"Err...well, Jenkins told me…" Mariposa started, before realizing she could never bring herself to finish the sentence that had entered her mind. "Okay. Listen. That sort of stuff is wrong because...nobody will like you if you do it, and you won't make any friends." She gulped and decided to play her trump card. "And not having friends is a _really bad thing. _Rigggggght…?"

"...Yes. Yes...very bad." The Creature agreed. "But then...what is brother?"

"A member...of your family." Mariposa said. "And before you ask, families are...a group of people that are related and close to each other, that are supposed to take care of each other. Some don't, and those types of families suck...but all in all, most do!"

"Take care…" The Creature repeated. "Could Janna...be considered...my family? She...took care...of me."

"Uh, that's not really how it works." Mariposa said. "She's not related to you…probably, I don't know anything about her family or your origins, but she probably can't be your family because that entails a certain...thing."

"And...that is?"

"They have to be related by blood." Mariposa said.

"I...don't have...any blood." The Creature whispered.

"Oh." Mariposa said. "B-but that doesn't mean she can't _technically _be your family! It's only a word after all! I consider Meteora and Jenkins to be part of my family, but none of us are related to each other! Jenkins just took care of me and Meteora, who I grew to see as my sister, and...I sorta saw Jenkins as my dad, even if he doesn't like that for whatever reason."

"Okay...but what does...related by blood mean?" The Creature asked. "Same...blood? Similar color? Texture?"

"It's...it's complicated." Mariposa said. "I don't actually know how it all works. But...I guess it starts with two people, and they have some kids together, and then their kids have kids, and then _their _kids have kids, and so on until they have a giant family tree and there's like a million of them."

"Two people...have children?" The Creature said quizzingly. "Didn't know that…"

"What? Did Janna not teach you _anything_ about that?"

"Said...bird called stork brought baby." The Creature said. "Saw picture of stork...on Janna's phone. Still confused...where it for that baby."

"That's because a stork doesn't bring a baby." Mariposa said, who had never even seen a stork or heard of the classic excuse before. "I don't know where she got that from."

"Then...where...do babies come from?"

"Annnnd...we're done." Mariposa said, her cheeks flushing again. "Sorry, that's for someone else to explain, because...I've been trying to forget what I found in that old medical textbook for 6 years now, and that could bring some really distressing memories."

"Seem distressed."

"No, just really not in the mood to talk about that. Now, or ever." Mariposa responded. "But like I said...I think that's all we can do for today."

"Hardly did annnnnny." The Creature whined.

"I know, I'm sorry." Mariposa said, apologizing for what felt like the ninth time. "But Jenkins-"

"Your...dad?"

"...Yes, my dad…" Mariposa said quietly. "Is probably still worried sick about me. That's or he's passed out from exhaustion after searching for Meteora so much. But either way, I can't stay for long. I promise I'll come back soon, with an actual light source this time, but until then, I have to go. Okay?"

"..."

"Are...you still there?" Mariposa asked, weary of the Creature's silence.

"Yes." It answered. "But...you sound...like her. The day she left. And never...came back. Don't want you to go. Want you to stay."

"I...I can't." Mariposa said nervously, well aware of how easily this could go south. "But I'm not like Janna. I only think she never came back because of the apocalypse. And also because she went insane with dark magic, but that's besides the point. I'm not going anywhere. And if I don't come back...then you should leave this place and come look for me. Because that means something happened that I could use your help for. I know it's a lot to take in, but I think you can handle it if you really try. Okay?"

"..."

"..."

Suddenly, Meteora felt her right hand being grabbed by another, with the same texture and feel as the ones from earlier. It squeezed it gently, as if testing to see how durable it was.

"What are you-"

"Promise me." The Creature said, in the most demanding tone Mariposa had ever heard from it.

"I just did." Mariposa said. "I'll come back. I swear. But-"

"Not like...that." The Creature sighed. "Janna taught me...something. A way...to ensure...a promise...is never broken. She called it...a "pinkie promise".

"A...what now?" Mariposa queried.

"A pinkie promise." The Creature repeated. "She told...me. Although...she was laughing slightly...when she described it. But I...believe her. She used it...when she said she'd...come back and teach me. And...she did. But not...day before...she vanished. Now. Want you...to do it. Ensure you...come back. Not vanish...like her."

"O-okay." Mariposa said, who was frankly quite unnerved by the whole story. "So how do we…?"

"Hold your pinky out."

"My what?"

"Your...smallest finger?" The Creature said, confused. "Janna told me...that's what it was called."

"Wait, do you mean my little finger?." Mariposa realized. "I didn't know there was another name for it. Jenkins just always called it the little finger. Why would anyone call it pinky? What does that even mean?"

"Don't know. But Janna said...to just go with it." The Creature recalled. "Now...can you…?"

"Yeah...sure." Mariposa said, although she still had no idea how this made the promise any more important. Was it some weird occult thing she didn't know about? Hopefully not, for she had already stuck her hand out with her pinky extended, an expression of pure perplexion on her face. A moment later, she felt the Creature's hand approach and wrap its finger around her own, shake it up and down for a second, and then retreat.

"It is done." It said, with the same tone of a person who had just summoned an ancient evil god. "Your promise...is now official."

"Yeah...I'm gonna forget that forever and move on." Mariposa said. "But now, it's time for me to leave. So I'm going to need your help finding a-"

"Wait! One last thing!" The Creature interjected. "One last...question."

"I-! Fine." Mariposa sighed, unable to express her rage to this thing. It would be like screaming at a child. A child that could probably tear her limb from limb if it wanted to. "What is it?"

"Still curious...about Marco." The Creature said. "Told me...he was your brother. But I..._hate _Marco. Wondering...if you do too."

"What? Why would I hate him? I hardly even know him!" Mariposa declared. "I literally told you a minute ago that he's family, and families are supposed to protect and love each other. Did you...not understand that?"

"No...not entirely." The Creature said. "But...you should. Marco...is bad. He attacked me. Tried to...kill me. Along with...knight of the wash. Hate them." It repeated. "Hate them..._both. _Want to..._need _to get revenge. Hungry for revenge."

"You said that already." Mariposa pointed out, still disturbed but this things immense hatred for her brother. "But...why did he want to kill you then? If you want _me _to hate him, I'd like to know how part of the story."

"No time. Said...you were leaving."

"Yeah, well I can squeeze a few minutes in for something like _this." _Mariposa announced. "It's been forever since I've heard any new stories about my brother, and I'm pretty sure that your encounter with him is not one of them."

"Very well." The Creature said. "Years ago...he was...apprentice of...Lavabo. New apprentice. All old apprentices...easily devoured by me."

"Hold on, _devoured?" _Mariposa gasped, getting the sudden urge to run away again. "Uh...could you be a little more specific about that?"

"Do _you_...not know what that means?"

"I know full well what it means, but I want to make sure we're all agreeing on the same meaning!" Mariposa explained. "D-did you _actually _eat them?"

"Yes." The Creature replied casually. "But they...tried to attack me first. Was all...in self-defense. Didn't want to attack...at first. Had to."

"Then why didn't you just beat them up?" Mariposa asked. "You didn't have to go full predator like that! Just...why would you do that?"

"Was hungry." The Creature said. "No food here. No water. No nothing. Eat...whatever I can get my hands on."

"Uh...then…" Mariposa gulped and thought about making a run for it. "Why haven't you-"

"You...are friend." The Creature said. "You only slashed...in self-defense...like I did. Others...attacked me first. Wanted to be...left alone. But they refused. I showed them...the error of their ways."

"Okay, that's a bit of a relief, I thought you were going to try and attack me again..." Mariposa mumbled. "How many though? How many people did you kill?"

"Six." The Creature said. "The rest...left my home, beaten and bloody. Perhaps died later, perhaps not. But those six...nothing remains. But...not Marco." It huffed. "Like...I was saying...Marco was different. He was...no warrior. When he saw me...he cowered. He hid. Felt pity for him...at first. Was going to...let him go. But then...someone else arrived."

"Who?"

"Unsure." The Creature said. "Don't remember...what they looked like. Only know...that they were there. But whoever it was...helped Marco. He was...no coward...after that. Tried to defend myself. Tried to stop him. Tried to devour him...like the others. But he...overcame me. Destroyed my body. Blew me away...like...knight of the wash. Only other person...besides him...to defeat me."

"Wow." Mariposa said. "What happened to you then?"

"Scattered." The Creature said solemnly. "Bits and pieces. Small part...of consciousness...in each one. Took a while...but eventually brought myself...back together. Swore revenge...on Marco. But by then...he was gone. Castle abandoned. And a few weeks later...Janna." It sighed. "You know the rest…"

"So...my brother tried to kill you..." Mariposa whispered. "Are you sure he attacked first? I mean, I trust you, but I want to trust him too, so I _really _want to be sure who's in the wrong here."

"I...am positive he struck first." The Creature said, sounding slightly offended that Mariposa didn't believe them. "Hit me...with a blade. Did nothing. Hit _him _across the room. Brought out...his cowardly side."

"Well, I think he was just following orders." Mariposa pointed out. "You said he was the apprentice of this "Lavabo" guy, right? You shouldn't blame him. Lavabo is the guy you should blame. Marco was probably just scared of you. I doubt he _actually _wanted to hurt you."

"Regardless...he did." The Creature said. "And I will carry my hatred...for the rest of my days. If I see him...I will drop everything...to end his life like the others. His death...my revenge...takes precedence over all else. The lessons...the outside world...even you and Janna. He must die...if I am to find peace."

"Well, good thing I'm not him, huh?" Mariposa chuckled nervously.

"Yes. _Good thing." _The Creature agreed. "But he...isn't here. So I think. Think about ways...I can hurt him. Want to hurt him..._anyway _I can. So I destroy objects...that he cares about. So reached. As far...as I could. Wrecked castle. Smashed walls. Furniture. Anything…"

"Wait, it was _you _that broke everything up there?" Mariposa asked. "I thought that was just looters, along with the blast and...hey!" Her eyes widened as a recent memory sparked up. "Were you the one who slapped me earlier?"

"...No." The Creature said. "I did not. But...if someone else is here...and wants to hurt you...I promise...I will protect you."

"Oh...thanks." Mariposa said graciously. "I mean, I'm gonna leave soon, but I still appreciate that." She grabbed one of the bars above her and pulled herself up, ignoring the incredible aching pain in her legs. "I don't get it though. Why would you destroy the castle to get back at Marco?"

"Because...he lived there." The Creature said. "It was his home...for a time. Hoping he'd come back. See the state...it is in. Realize it was me. Cry in anguish. Then I would...finish what he started...so many years ago."

"It's been fifteen years. He's not coming back." Mariposa said. "Especially since he's living a hundred miles away from here. I doubt anyone actually plans to come back anytime soon. You...kinda destroyed the castle for nothing. Plus...he'd probably assume it was the blast or looters like I did." She straightened her back out and groaned before speaking again. "And _plus _plus, since I never heard of you in any stories Jenkins told me about him, I don't think you had that big an impact on his life. I don't want to sound mean, but that's just the truth. It's possible he's forgotten about you altogether."

"...Oh." The Creature said sadly. "W-well, he will recognize me...when he sees me! The memories...have to be in there. I will find him...make him shake in his boots...and eliminate him."

"You know...I think I have a good idea for our first lesson!" Mariposa exclaimed. "Letting go of past grudges. Because if you want to come with us and live in that settlement, then you can't be all gung-ho on trying to murder my brother. Especially since I don't want to do that either."

"Hrrrrn.." The Creature growled slightly. "Still don't...get it. Why do you...care so much for Marco? Get...he is your brother. Family. But...never met him. Don't know him...at all. _He _doesn't...know you."

"Okay, that's actually not true. Marco knows I exist full well." Mariposa exclaimed. And now he probably knows I'm still alive, thanks to Meteora telling Eclipsa everything with that spell. I care about him, and he cares about me! We've met before, I...just don't remember it!"

"...What." The Creature deadpanned. "Repeat...what you just said."

"Uh...I just don't remember it?" Mariposa muttered. "Why is that-"

"Not _that." _The Creature hissed. "What you said...before that."

"I care about him, and he cares about me?" Mariposa guessed.

"..."

"..."

"He...cares about you." The Creature stated, suddenly sounding much more malicious. "You matter to him. You are..._important. _He would not like it...if you got hurt, yes?"

"I…" Mariposa stuttered, getting the feeling that she should choose her next words very, very carefully. "Y-yes?"

"I see." The Creature said, almost sounding like it was sad. "Mariposa. I...am sorry. For what is...about to occur. I want you to know...that I take no pleasure in it. It is...not personal, as Janna would say. It's just...so I can get back at _him."_

"What do you mean-" Mariposa started, but that was all she got out of her mouth before ten leathery hands came out of nowhere and grabbed her arms, legs, and neck. She tried to scream, but one clapped over her mouth and silenced her. The dagger she was holding was dropped from her hands, and a second later they all tugged on her simultaneously, causing her back to make a loud popping noise and giving her a case of whiplash. They started dragging her across the floor again to a new destination, not even bothering to make sure she was unharmed in the process.

Unlike the last time she was dragged, which allowed her some movement, she was practically immobilized here. And despite being made of what felt like clothes, the Creature's arms were as unyielding as iron. Struggling did absolutely nothing, and all she could do now was hang on and hope her skull didn't crack open against the floor.

Which was, of course, not what Mariposa did, just like last time. She wasn't about to give up. Not after all she had done to make friends with this thing. She opened her mouth as wide as she could and bit down hard on the hand covering it, causing it to retreat and loop around her neck.

"What are you doing?!" She screeched. "I thought we were friends!"

"_Were." _The Creature called out, still pulling her along. "Mariposa...I will say it again. I am...sorry. I did not understand...at first. I did not know...that you meant so much...to him."

"How?!" She exclaimed. "I literally told you that he was part of my family, and that families were supposed to protect and love each other! What part of that made you think I hated hi-OW!" She cried, after the back of her head was accidentally slammed against the stone floor. Mariposa saw spots flash over her vision as it throbbed in pain, while the Creature simply responded to her question, unconcerned in the slightest with her injury.

"I assumed!" It yelled. "I assumed...that you hated him. Thought you knew...what a monster he was."

"He's not a monster at all! That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Mariposa shouted, doing her best to not black out. "He's a good person! He was under orders by that knight guy! He never wanted to hurt you! You should be angry at _Lavabo, _not him!"

"Heard you...say that already." The Creature growled. "Doesn't matter...to me!"

"But it _should _matter!" Mariposa said. "Especially when-AH!" Another cry of pain came out of her mouth, but this time, it was not from hitting the floor. Rather, it was from the sudden brightness that hit her eyeballs, which had been seeing nothing but darkness for the past hour. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could, but even then they still burned, like someone was shining a flashlight directly into them.

A moment later, she opened them a small sliver, and saw the source of light. A single torch stuck to the wall, emitting just enough brightness to keep the area mostly illuminated. But despite how dim it was, Mariposa still felt like she was looking directly at the sun. The dark had truly gotten to her, and now her retinas were paying the price.

Soon after, the Creature's hands let go and retreated, finally allowing her movement. Mariposa's first thought was to get up and run, but logic told her that this was a horrible idea. She was blind outside of this room, her legs hurt more than ever, and the Creature would probably catch her immediately. Hopefully she could talk her way out of this, because otherwise she had no chance.

"Get up!" The Creature demanded, it's voice now sounding like thunder. "Get up...and fight like the others! You were a friend...so I will give you...a chance to fight."

"W-wait." Mariposa groaned, working on getting her eyes fully open. She could see a smooth stone floor now, and several high walls and pillars surrounding her. "I'm still hurt. I can't...I'm not sure I can even stand right now."

"You have to." The Creature demanded. "If you do not get up...I will devour you anyways, like the others. Is that...what you want?" It asked. "Of course...it will happen anyways. In your current condition...you do not stand a chance. But I still...want to give you one."

"How generous of you." Mariposa scoffed. She let out one final cry of pain and forced her eyelids to open entirely, giving her a full view of the room. She blinked a few times and saw that the _overall_ layout was surprisingly simple. Stone walls, ceilings, and pillars, much like the rest of the castle. But then there was the rest. Everywhere she looked, she saw mounds and mounds of what seemed to be pink lint. There was so much of it that it covered more floor space than the actual floor. Some of the stacks even reached the ceiling, and at the far end of the room was a gigantic fan, with a small lever next to it.

Mariposa had no time to dwell on whether the lever still worked or not, as one of the piles near it started to move. Suddenly it dawned on her. Why this thing had felt like clothes. Why it had been able to reach so far. Why it thought everyone would be afraid of it and why Lavabo has sent people to fight it.

This...this was a _true _monster.

And then the true monster revealed itself.

A gigantic tentacle made of the lint shot out of the pile, then another, and then five more. Before long, there were over a dozen of them, spreading in all directions and grabbing whatever they could. Loose stones, pillars, whatever. Everything except for her. Then the main pile rose up, loose pieces of lint falling off of it like a creature emerging from sand. Mariposa couldn't hear anything but her own panicked heartbeat and breathing. It should have been impossible for a creature this large to be this slow, but it was happening. Somehow, in a way she couldn't comprehend, the Monster was also deathly quiet as it formed itself.

Several features began to form as more of it emerged, like two gigantic slivers that revealed large yellow eyes, burning with indignation against her. A gigantic mouth formed beneath it, circular and filled with rows of sharp teeth that were easily the size of Mariposa's entire arm. Her mind kept repeating one phrase as all this was happening, the word "no" over and her like a mantra. But no amount of denial could stop this from happening. She knew she had slipped up the second she admitted she was special to Marco, and the Monster intended for _someone _to pay the price.

She just wished it wasn't her.

But as dramatic and slow as the Monster's emergence was, it gave plenty of time for her to escape. Mariposa turned and started to crawl away, knowing that escape was only possible if she found some place to hide. This thing likely knew every inch of the castle like the back of it's head (which was, to say, it's entire body), but there was really nothing else left to do. Despite her earlier plan, Mariposa really didn't think talking it out would work anymore, and the only other alternative was staying there, attempting to fight, and getting eaten.

All in all, not a good time.

'Hurry…' She thought. 'While it's still forming itself. I have to get out of here, tell Jenkins and Meteora what's down here, so that _no one _ever has an encounter with this thing ever again!' A spike of guilt shot through her, and she almost regretted thinking like that. 'I'm sorry.' She thought, the apology directed at the thing currently trying to kill her. 'I promised that I would help you. I was actually kind of excited. A new ally. Someone else to talk to. Someone to teach things to. Someone...new. But you were like the rest in the end.' She sighed. 'Someone that wants to murder me.'

Mariposa then finally gained enough leverage to crawl out of the room, which the Monster hadn't noticed as it was busy creating more tentacle things. She scooted to the side and looked around for any hiding spots, but it was impossible with all the darkness. She started cursing furiously under her breath, realizing too late that the only light in here was still coming from the same room her would-be murderer was in.

"Should have grabbed one of the torches." She mumbled. "Should have grabbed one of those damn things and-"

Unfortunately, her mumbling was just a bit too loud, and a second later a lint tentacle flew by and wrapped itself tightly around her chest, causing Mariposa to yelp in surprise. Another one came and curled around both her ankles, slamming them together and restraining her legs.

"Hey!" She yelled. "Let go of me you-"

Whatever word she was planning to say never left her throat, as the Monster violently jerked Mariposa upwards into the air, hanging her upside down. Her fear rose by at least three levels as she replied that she was being pulled back into the chamber, with no way to defend or free herself. Mariposa flailed around widely, trying to get the various appendages off her, but it was futile. The Monster was slowly moving her towards itself, and she sucked her breath in upon seeing it. Fully formed, it's "head" reached the ceiling and it's mouth was big enough to eat a small building in one bite, although the strangest part was that there was a small little lump on the very top, with what looked to be a face with its eyes and mouth carved out.

The meaning of this disturbing detail would have to come later however, as Mariposa saw her life flash before her eyes in front of the Monster's jaws. She couldn't let it end this way. Not so soon. Not by something like _this._

"Can't we talk about this?!" She tried, deciding that her earlier plan _maybe _wasn't such a bad idea after all. "I know you're angry, but this isn't the way! Eating me won't accomplish anything!"

"Wrong." The Monster disagreed, pausing and holding Mariposa in place. "It will give me...a sense of gratification. Killing...part of his family. When he sees...what I have done...he will sob. He will mourn. He will...be vulnerable. Just like...he will be...when he sees...what I have done to the castle. I will show him...your skeleton. Tell him...who it belonged to. And he will-"

"Tear you apart, piece by piece." Mariposa interjected. "According to the stories of the past, my brother wasn't some mourner whenever someone died. He picked up his sword, murdered whatever had hurt his friends, and _then _got all sad about it. It was something he learned to do in the Neverzone." She huffed. "The point is if you kill me, you won't get to see him be sad. Not until you die, or he does. He won't make himself vulnerable."

"Perhaps...perhaps not." The Monster repeated. "But either way...the point is...to make him suffer. And I count being angry...as suffering. So this _will _accomplish something. Even if I die...I still made him hurt inside. And that...is victory enough for me."

'Shit. Shit. Shit.' Mariposa thought. 'Come on. Think of something. Have to keep it talking. Have to stop it from pulling me any closer to its mouth. But what could…?'

A vision of their earlier conversation then sparked up, specifically the portion where Mariposa described how they could all go to the settlement together.

"I have another idea." She said. "You hate Marco, not me, right?"

"Of course." The Monster said, momentarily holding her in place. "I am only doing this...to get back at him."

"Then...why don't I _bring _you straight to him?" Mariposa offered. "Remember the settlement I talked about? A hundred miles away? He's there, like I said. You don't have to eat me. We can leave together, go there together, and _you _can fight him! You don't have to do _anything…' _She gulped. "...to your former friend. And if you do this...it won't be former anymore. We'll be _friends_ again, just like you wanted."

"..."

"..."

"So how about it?" Mariposa asked, sweat dripping from her forehead. "It's a pretty good deal, right? I live, Marco dies, and everyone gets what they-"

"NO." The Monster roared, it's enormous mouth somehow opening even wider. "This...is a trick. You would not...betray your brother...like that. And Janna...taught me...to detect lies. And you...are definitely lying."

"I'm not!" Mariposa tried. "But this is…" She racked her mind for a solution. "...just the way humans do things! Yeah! You see, we have a very specific code that-"

"Enough!" The Monster thundered, flinging her into a pile of nearby lint. She screamed as she sailed through the air and slammed into the mound, which soon collapsed in on itself and buried her inside it. "No more...talk. No more...chances for you...to stop me. Get out...and fight. Lose...lose…" It repeated.

Now underneath a few pounds of lint, Mariposa was beginning to lose hope. The Monster clearly wasn't in the mood for talk anymore, and she couldn't _fight_ that thing. It was at least twenty times her size in its current state, and if it gathered all the lint in the room onto itself?

That's something that even Meteora in that butterfly form of hers would get trashed by.

But Mariposa knew she couldn't just give up. It'd kill her either way. There had to be a way. There was _always _a way-

'Wait.' She thought. Her mind went back to something she had spotted a few minutes ago. The fan at the back of the room. The lever beside it. The lever that probably _turned it on._

'Holy…that...that's how Marco defeated it.' She realized. 'When that thing said Marco "blew it away", it didn't mean that he destroyed it with an explosion. He _literally _blew it away with that fan! That's how I can defeat it! If I can just reach that lever...then I might be able to get away before it reforms itself!'

Mariposa then took a deep breath, mentally going over her plan. She glanced over her shoulder, and through the lint covering she could make out the light of the single torch, forever burning. She smiled despite her predicament, relieved that she had been thrown so close to it. Now that her dagger was gone, improvisation would have to do.

'There.' She thought. 'I'll use that. This thing is made of lint, so I don't think it'll appreciate being set on fire. Although I wonder why it hadn't gotten rid of it before. Did the dark really scare it to the point where it risked being constantly set on fire?'

Before Mariposa could contemplate further on this, the Monster called out to her, growing impatient. "Hurry!" It yelled. "I want to get...this over with...as quickly as possible. And I know...you do too."

"You got that right." Mariposa growled, and fighting back incredible pain, she crawled out of the lint pile and climbed to her feet, before dashing over to the torch. It frankly made her legs feel like they were going to fall off, even with the adrenaline pushing her, but Mariposa knew that it was now or never. The consequences of that pain could come later. Getting rid of _that _thing could come first.

Even if it would make her feel bad.

The Monster saw what she was trying to do and roared, sending dozens of its tentacles to seize her before she reached it. It was one second too late however, and Mariposa snatched the torch and yanked it off the wall, casting gigantic shadows everywhere. She swung around and waved it wildly at the appendages, causing them to arch back from the flames. The Monster expressed its frustration with a loud growl, and began moving to the side of the room, hoping to flank her.

'Have to keep moving.' Mariposa thought, side-stepping towards the lever. 'It probably knows what I'm trying to do, and I don't think it's in any mood to be defeated the same way _twice. _And by another Diaz no less. Fire seems to be working for now though. And...hold on, what is trying to do?' She thought, as she just now noticed the Monster moving towards the left side of the room, far away from the lever.

'Is…is it just leaving it unguarded like that?' Mariposa pondered. 'Does it _not _remember what that lever activates? It told me that it blew away last time, but am I just misinterpreting that again or-'

"It won't work…" The Monster hissed, causing Mariposa to tense up. It was now going back on it's own "no talking" rule, so she knew whatever it had to say was probably important for them both. "The lever...it won't work. Been broken...for years. Machinery...damaged beyond repair. Fan..._useless_." It narrowed its eyes and began to glide right towards her, the tentacles moving away and making room. "This...is futile. Said...would give you...a fighting chance. But you...hurt. Still...hurt. Thought...you would heal."

"Wait, you thought I'd be healed by now?!" Mariposa exclaimed, momentarily lowering the torch to yell. "Are you joking? I have bruises all over me! You don't heal from something like that in a few minutes! Why would-"

"GOT YOU!" The Monster yelled, and, taking advantage of her distraction to the fullest, one of its tentacles quickly wrapped around her leg and squeezed it tightly, causing her to cry out in pain and drop the torch. It clattered to the floor, and the second the sound registered in Mariposa's ears, she knew she had been tricked.

"Oh fuck."

This was all she got out before the Monster lifted her in the air again and started thrashing her around like a dog with a chew toy. But this wasn't throwing her into lint piles, oh no. It was actively smacking her against every hard surface it could find. The floor, walls, ceiling, even the damn fan blades. Several loud cracks were heard and echoed throughout as her bones were practically shattered to mush by the beating, and the pain was so intense that Mariposa didn't even cry out, as she had gone into the shock approximately one second after the first hit. But she could still _feel _it, in a way. It didn't hurt, but she could feel it. And over her bones being smashed into dust, she heard the Monster speaking, almost sounding happy with itself.

"Knew it!" It exclaimed. "Knew it! Knew it! Knew it! I knew...that if I could get you...distracted...then you would lower that torch...and allow me to move in...for the kill. But again...for the third time…I want you to know...none of this is personal. Just want to make sure...that you don't...have any more chances to escape."

She was then thrown into a nearby pillar as a finishing move, causing her spine to practically snap in half on impact. Her mouth made an "O" shape as her legs went numb and everything led below her waist went numb, and now Mariposa knew she was _really _screwed.

Or not.

Because using what little willpower and energy she had left, Mariposa lifted her head and saw that the lever was conveniently only a short distance away, possibly within crawling distance.

'Hurry…' She thought, as blood began to trickle out of her mouth. 'Have to get there. Even though...I'm sure I'm already dead. And I think that tightness in my chest is my ribs stabbing my heart.' She groaned, which came out as more of a gurgle, and began clawing her way over to the lever, the Monster too preoccupied with its monologue to even notice what she was doing. Something about...apologizing to her again. But Mariposa heard none of it. Although that might be because of that popping sound she heard in both of her ears a few seconds ago, back when it smashed the side of her head into the metal container that once held the torch.

'Almost...there…' She thought, her fingernails bloody from dragging her across the floor. She grimaced at the loss of them, but what really set her off was that she almost felt the pain, which meant that the shock was about to wear off and put her in a greater state of

pain than any other living person.

Provided she didn't die beforehand of course.

Then after what felt like an eternity of dragging, she reached the wall next to the fan, and thus the lever. It was only a few feet off the ground, but with her legs currently paralyzed, it was a rather difficult challenge. She briefly glanced back at the Monster, who was still going on about Marco or how none of this was her fault or whatever. She had _some _time, at least before the pain returned and prevented her from moving without screaming like a banshee. She just needed the strength.

Reaching upwards with one hand, Mariposa pushed down on the ground with the other, her hand hovered just inches below the lever.

'Come on…' She thought. 'This was a really anticlimactic fight. The least I could get out of all of this is a proper ending. Finishing it the same way Marco did! And the switch _isn't_ broken. It's just a lie. It has to be.' She started crying, just barely hanging on to the one bit of hope she had left. 'Has to be...'

And soon, with one final push, her fingers reached the lever. She smiled widely and prepared to pull it, only for the familiar feeling of something wrapping around her ankle and lifting her into the air returned. She shrieked and shot her other arm up, grabbing on the lever as well. Behind her, she saw that the Monster had finally taken notice of her little attempt to defeat it, and was glowering at her in fury.

"What...did I say?" It asked, moving her up and down as it tried to make her let go. "It...won't work. It...will never work...again. Too far damage."

"It looks...fine...to me!" Mariposa yelled, her throat feeling like it was burning as her brain finally caught up with her nerves.

"Don't you think...I know that?" The Monster asked rhetorically. "I made it...look damaged. But behind all of it...is a mess of gears...and other nonsense I...don't know the names of. I did that...so that any intruders...would try and go for it. And you...fell for my trap." It frowned at her in clear disappointment. "Thought...you were better. Was mistaken. Now let go...and accept your fate."

"So you think...I'm just going to let you eat me...and die?!" Mariposa sputtered, blood flowing out of her mouth like a waterfall. "And by the way, that's exactly…" Her arm muscles tensed you as she summoned up every last bit of energy she had left. "What a person that doesn't want me to pull the lever…" She took a deep breath and tightened her grip. "...would say!"

Then giving it everything she had, Mariposa flung the switch downwards, where it hit the bottom of the mechanism with a loud clang. She beamed and glanced upwards at the fan expectantly, positive that it would start up any second now.

Yes, any second now…

Maybe right about now…?

Or...how about now?

…

…

…

Nothing happened.

The fan was quiet and didn't move a single inch. There were no sounds coming from behind the lever showing any signs of the mechanisms it activated, and realization hit Mariposa in the face.

Okay, _now _she was screwed.

"Really?" The Monster chided. "After...everything I told you? You still...tried it?"

"It's called...never giving up." Mariposa gurgled. "Which is something...that I'm sure _you..._don't know anything about."

"Are you...kidding? I have never...given up...on my hatred towards Marco." The Monster said. "I am entirely...single-minded. I'm sure...I know more about it... than you ever could."

"..."

"..."

"Okay...I'm gonna eat you now."

"Wait! Wait!" Mariposa tried to yell, but her voice never left her throat, mostly due to the fact that the Monster wrapped another tentacle around it, which then moved to her hands and dislodged her fingers, one by one. She tried her hardest to hang on, but like the Monster had said earlier, it was futile. Finally, both her hands were wretched free of the lever, and with both her arms and legs restrained and broken, Mariposa was left totally helpless. The Monster moved her above its head and opened wide, and Mariposa looked down and saw herself dangling directly over its mouth, the interior of which was somehow red and not pink unlike the rest of it. Which really made no sense considering-

"Any...last words?" The Monster asked. "I will...grant you that much. Because of...how you tried to help me. At least...you will die knowing...that I still appreciated it. Even if...that appreciation...led to this."

Mariposa tried to respond, but all she could get out was a low groan, due to the pain in every part of her body spiking up as her shock wore off. More tears started pooling in her eyes as she desperately tried to say something, but nothing came out.

"Very well. But...to each their own." The Monster sighed. "...Janna taught me that phrase..."

At this, it widened its mouth further and Mariposa felt the tentacles around her start to unfurl themselves, and she began panicking more than ever. She managed to finally wretch one of her arms free, but in no time at all the last tentacle had disconnected itself from her and rendered all her efforts pointless. She gasped, and Mariposa's stomach seemed to vanish as she fell, the stale air of the room flying into her face. She twisted her body around and started flailing her twisted arms, hoping to grab on to some last-minute miraculous handhold that could save her. But nothing caught her hands, and suddenly her vision was filled with the top of a dark opening, and rows of razor-sharp teeth. She landed on something soft, let out a yelp, and that was the last thing heard before darkness once again consumed Mariposa as the Monster slammed its mouth shut and swallowed her.

* * *

"Get up..."

"Get upppp…"

"RRRR...GET THE FUCK UP, GOD!"

"AHHHHHHHH-OW!" Mariposa started to scream, her shrieks were so rudely interrupted by something slapping her clean across the face. The girl flew backwards and landed flat on the floor, which for some reason felt like stone again and not the tongue of a giant vengeful child-like monstrosity. She put her hand to her cheek, forced her eyes open, and scanned the area as quickly as she could, confused in every aspect as to what the hell was going on.

"Well, it's about damn time." A voice to her right said, sounding extremely irritated/bored. Mariposa tensed up and then jumped up, readying herself to try and fight _another _unknown foe. However, a second later she realized that she was standing up, and also in no pain whatsoever. She slowly glanced downwards and stared in confusion at her arms and legs, which weren't broken or twisted like they had been just a second ago. She was silent as she examined them, but then her assailant spoke up again and ruined the silence.

"Are you done checking yourself out?" It asked, causing her to check every which way for its location again. "Yes, yes, you're not injured anymore, it's all very cool. Now stop goggling at your limbs like a blind person seeing for the first time and pay attention!"

"Wha-hold I'm just a second!" Mariposa yelled, hiding how relieved she was at being able to speak properly again. "What's going on? Who are you? Where am I? Why-"

"One question at a time kid." It requested, and not nicely either. "Christ, you're even worse than your stupid sister. But at least I was in a better mood then."

"Wait, Meteora?" Mariposa said. "Do you know where she is? Did you have something to do with her disappearing?"

"I didn't do shit." It growled. "That was her own fault. Well, her and that bothersome level three twat. Some days I just wish I made it so that he never exist in the first place...which is, you should know, _every _fucking day!"

Mariposa frowned. Whatever this thing was, it clearly wasn't interested in making good first impressions. "You really like to swear, don't ya?"

"Gee, what tipped you off? My fucking tone of voice or the actual vocabulary itself?" It asked sarcastically.

"What kind of question is-"

"It was sarcasm you idiot." It groaned. "Kids are so stupid these days…"

"I'm a teenager...not a kid." Mariposa mumbled, unsure of how else to respond to that.

"Good for you. You want a fucking medal?"

"Okay, enough of this!" Mariposa shouted. "Who the hell do you think you are?! You bring me to this place and wake me up by slapping me, and then when I start asking questions you answer them by _insulting _me and calling me stupid! Now maybe I did something to make you mad, but-"

"Multiple things, not just you, are actually causing me to be pissed off right now, but continue."

"...Right." She seethed, ignoring the fact that this interjection _had_ prevented her from continuing. "...but if you want to get this over with as soon as possible, then how about you just answer my questions from earlier, and we can get this whole discussion over with, okay?" She suggested.

"Well, at least we're on the same damn page." It said. "Because I agree, I'd like to get this mess over with. I have important things to do, and frankly, I don't consider this to be very important."

"Then...why are you here at all?"

"Because non-important things are the only things I _can _do, if I don't want to attract _his _attention." It stated, saying this like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay, something to talk about never, because I don't care right now." Mariposa sighed. "But...first off, if we're on the same page like you said...I'm gonna ask something that's been in my mind for a few hours. Were _you _the one who slapped me back in the tapestry room? It's the exact same way you just woke me up!"

"Yeah. That was me." It admitted casually. "Good on you for connecting those dots. Even if it's not really impressive, considering how fucking close together those dots were…"

"And _why_ did you do that?" Mariposa queried. "That really hurt you know!"

"You can deal with it." It said. "You handled that giant-ass monster smacking you against the floor and ceiling like a child with an action figure easily enough."

"Yeah, because I went into shock which dulled the pain!" Mariposa pointed out. "I sure as hell felt everything else!"

"Yeah, but you don't anymore." It contested. "And by the way, I'm getting tired of being referred to as "it". That's really demanding. so I'm going to give you something to call me."

"Wait, "it"?" Mariposa asked. "I haven't called you "it". In fact, I haven't called you anything. I mean, there's a lot of things I'd _like _to call you…" She growled. "...but I think even Jenkins would cover his ears for those."

"How cute." It said. "But for now, call me...the Maker."

"The Maker?"

"Yes." "The Maker" said. "And before you ask why, I'll inform you that you are not privy to that information. At least not now. It's private, and none of your damn business."

"Well, if you want me to call you something that _doesn't _require censoring for anyone under twenty years old, then you'll tell me." Mariposa demanded. "I'm really not in the mood to be spoken down to right now. Not after that creature betrayed me."

"Ah yes, the Monster." The Maker sighed. "You're an idiot in that regard. You should have seen that that little shit was going to betray you from the second it said it hated Marco." The Maker grumbled. "Like back there: When it asked you if you had sentimental value to Marco. Why the fuck did you say _yes? _What did you think was going to happen? It told you that it'd hurt Marco in any way it could! Surely that should have been a cause for alarm!"

"Because I didn't want to lie to it!" Mariposa said. "It was my way out, it was _really_ nice to me before that, so I didn't want to hurt it's feelings if it found out I lied. Even if my life was on the line. It was...like a child. A little kid."

"A little kid who fucking _eats _people! Which is exactly what happened to you!" The Maker shouted. "And little kids are the easiest people to lie too! It wouldn't have figured that out unless someone told it otherwise! It was definitely the stupidest decision I've seen you make all day, of which there have been very, very many…"

"Why you…" Mariposa started, before taking a deep breath and calming her nerves. "You know what, forget that for now, because you didn't actually answer my question. About why you want me to call you that. If you want me to talk to you, then you're going to give me some answers. I want to be in control of this situation, not you. Not like how it was out there."

"Are you fucking insane?" The Maker asked. "I literally have all the power. Your wounds being gone in here? Thanks to me. You feeling no pain? Thanks to me. You currently being alive despite your real body having no air? Thanks to me. Hell, you should be thanking me for all this!"

"I'm not going to do that." Mariposa replied. "At least not until you act nicer. Even if you don't want me here, you brought me here for _some _reason, so it's unfair that you get to act like an asshole about it."

"Ooh, it's unfair." The Maker mocked. "Maybe so, but you don't know the hardships I've been through to get to this point. And before you ask, they're far greater than anything you ever suffered out in that shithole version of Earth."

"Debatable…" Mariposa mumbled, wondering how much this thing really knew about her. Hopefully it didn't know _too _much.

"I know enough." The Maker said. "And even after learning of all the horrible things you've been put through, I can still say with certainty that my experiences have been much, much worse."

"...Did you just read my thoughts?" Mariposa asked nervously.

"No. But I did read something." The Maker said. "And before you ask what it is, I'm not telling you, because it would take too long to explain and I'm sure you wouldn't believe me anymore. Every single word of it would sound like a pile of bullshit to any sensible person, so it's a secret I like to keep to myself. Even if today has proved that you're not very sensible."

"Good for you…" Mariposa muttered, before finally taking her attention off "the Maker" and properly checking her surroundings. Which wasn't much. The ground beneath her was a slick black surface, similar to obsidian, while the surrounding area was covered in a low hanging mist, with small grey particles of what appeared to be dust floating inside of it. The sky above was dark and devoid of stars, and Mariposa began to wonder if this was that mindscape that Meteora had mentioned.

"It's not the mindscape." The Maker interjected. "Something else entirely."

"Wha-hey!" Mariposa exclaimed. "You _can _read my thoughts! Why did you lie about that?"

"Ugh. I didn't fucking _lie!" _The Maker groaned. "Again, I'm not reading your _thoughts_. I'm reading something else. You could call it...the pages of the universe, I suppose. The omniversal storybook."

"And that means...what?"

"If I even attempted to explain you'd die of a brain aneurysm." The Maker said. "It's much too complicated for your shitty little human brain to understand."

"But you told me that you kept it to yourself because you thought nobody would believe you!" Mariposa pointed out.

"Well, that too." The Maker said. "It's both of them. But the point is that you're not going to know, and you're never going to know. Not unless you become a god-like being, and the possibility of _that _happening is fucking nil."

"So you are a god then." Mariposa said, more of a statement than a question. "I thought gods would be more polite. Or courteous."

"Gee, if I had a nickel every time someone told me that…" The Maker scoffed.

"You'd have a nickel?" Mariposa guessed.

"No, I'd be the richest entity in the entire fucking omniverse." The Maker said. "God or otherwise. Of course, some of the other big ones could just conjure a bunch up for themselves and make me lose the title, but I think you get the idea."

"_Other _big ones?" Mariposa repeated, sounding rather intrigued. "You consider yourself one of the big ones?"

"I _know_ I am." The Maker replied confidently. "But I didn't bring you here so we could go on a "get to know each other" fest that'd take up twenty fucking chapters. Nobody has time for that."

"Twenty chapters? What the hell does that mean?"

"You'll find out eventually." The Maker sighed. "Or, rather, you won't, if we keep wasting time and don't get to the topic at hand."

"Feels like an excuse to not share anything about yourself, but...I'm getting the feeling that you're right." Mariposa seethed, unsure if she was mumbling to herself or to the entity speaking to her.

"I'm _always _right." The Maker said. "It's a perk. If I say that it's right, then it is." It-

"Hey! Call me what I want to be called!"

...

..._The Maker _sighed again, this time out of longing rather than annoyance. "At least, that's how it used to be in the old days. But anyways, ask what you want. And make it quick. We've already waited enough time with the introductions and the back and forth squabbling."

"Fine." Mariposa agreed. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Because of your foster sister." The Maker said. "She's currently in danger, and unfortunately, from where I am I do not have the tools necessary to save her."

"Oh great…" Mariposa groaned, who had really been hoping that Meteora was okay and not being forced to fight off hordes of demons or evil priests or whatever she was apparently _really _doing. "What kind of danger? Janna? Drosid?"

"Those two insignificant specks are not the current cause of her crisis." The Maker said. "It's that level three twat that's camping in her mind. Using her as his own personal ride."

Mariposa paused for a moment before realizing who the Maker was talking about. "The _Voice_?" She guessed correctly. "Hm. Okay, that's not really much of a surprise as I thought it'd be." Mariposa shrugged. "Jenkins did tell me that a being like that is always up to something, so we were kinda waiting for things to go south in that regard."

"And they will go south. Very soon, if you don't do something." The Maker claimed. "And not just south for her. South for the entire damn world. Maybe this universe. The amount of power I foresee being unleashed because of this...it's enough to make _all _of this go to shit. Especially since not that many dimensions currently have the means to fight it off, what with most of them still thinking that magic is gone and that there is _no _fucking point in trying to get it back."

"Wait, so you're saying that whatever this is, it's going to trash the entire universe?" Mariposa asked. "Well that's just fantastic…"

"Not "whatever". We already know what it's going to be." The Maker revealed. "The same exact person that we're literally talking about right fucking now. Your bothersome sister is going to blow it all up. After the Voice starts to use its manipulation to full effect of course, that little prick…"

"Hold on, _Meteora's _the one that's going to kill everyone?!" Mariposa queried. "She's the big villain here?!"

"No no no!" The Maker yelled irritably. "God, you need to listen better. First off, Meteora is not really the villain here. The Voice is. Your sister is merely a victim of circumstance. And _she's_ technically not going to kill the universe. That's the Voice as well, at least when, like I said, it manipulates her into doing it. Meteora is innocent. And...vulnerable."

"Oh my god…" Mariposa breathed. "This can't be happening. I knew that something was up, but I never thought it'd be this bad."

"Are you surprised?" The Maker asked. "You really shouldn't be. If you hadn't seen this twist coming from the beginning, then frankly I'm disappointed."

"I didn't expect something like _this_!" Mariposa shouted. "Dammit! I can't believe...wait, are you really telling the truth? How do I know you're not lying?"

"Give me one reason why I would lie about this." The Maker requested. "I don't have anything to gain by lying to you other than securing my own demise. As painful as it is to say it, you, Jenkins, and Meteora are much more i...im..._important_ than you realize. It will be a very long time until you realize this importance, but until then, we need you alive."

"So we're just...pawns to you then?" Mariposa scoffed. "Pawns that you're using to ever yourself?"

"You should be fucking _honored_, not angry." The Maker stated. "You have an opportunity here. An opportunity to make a _much _bigger difference than almost everyone in the entire omniverse ever could. Your lives may be pointless and entirely insignificant to the grand scheme of things right now, but there will come a time where you are more valuable than you could ever realize."

"That sounds...promising." Mariposa muttered. "When exactly is this? How long is a long time from now?"

"I'm not _exactly _sure." The Maker said. "A few years, maybe. But at the least, six months. If all goes according to plan, then I know you can stop the Voice's takeover of your sister and then go fight in that demon war. After that, the instructions will be laid out for you. You'll know where to go, and the people there will know what to do."

"...The settlement." Mariposa stated. "Where my brother and everyone else are."

"Correct." The Maker said. "But it will not be your permanent home of course. You of all people should know that once you start a conflict, you must end it. The war with the Underworld will not be resolved with this little war. Nor the conflict with...fucking Janna." It mumbled. "Those are two things that you will one day have to face for the final time, but today, or the months that approach are not that time."

"Then when _will _that time be?"

"I am not sure." The Maker said, putting on a sudden formal tone. "While Drosid is more predictable, Janna is a wild card. She could attack today, or a year from now. I'm not entirely sure where she is. My sight on your world is unable to spot her."

"Unable?" Mariposa asked. "What kind of god are you? I get that you might be weakened after magic was destroyed, but you're still a...you know, _god. _And one of the "big ones" as you claim. Shouldn't you be able to do things like look at every inch of the solar system simultaneously if you wanted to?"

"A few things there." The Maker said. "Divinity comes with a cost, much like everything else. Even among the gods, there is a hierarchy. The five-level system is one way of enabling this hierarchy, although some level fours prefer to use...their own system. One that favors them and them alone. The gods are more human than you know. In fact, based on personality, they could be considered _more _human." The Maker explained. "The divine are a group of whiny, jealous, selfish, insensitive, and arrogant assholes. Just like humanity, and just like basically every race in the entire damn omniverse. Nothing about them is different."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So uh...ignoring the whole "Voice is a villain" thing for a moment…" Mariposa mumbled. "Where exactly do _you_ sit on that hierarchy?"

The Maker sighed like an old man sitting in an armchair preparing to tell a story. For a moment, it became solemn.

"I used to be...one of the greatest." The Maker explained. "One of the most powerful. Able to bend time and space to my will, make level four's kneel before me out of fear. But I was benevolent. And caring. And I didn't swear. I wasn't...like how you see me now. I was _better._"

"Hmm." Mariposa hummed, going back and forth about whether it was telling the truth about the whole "I didn't swear" part. "But what changed? What turned you into this?"

"_Him." _The Maker said. "He...grew too powerful. He could not be stopped. I tried to get rid of him, and we fought, but we destroyed millions of universes in the process. I...I couldn't." The Maker stuttered, sounding like the exact opposite of how it had been at the beginning. "He knew I would stop. He knew I wouldn't allow this much collateral damage to come to the things that I spent so long weaving out of nothing, trying to perfect. I surrendered, and he locked me away for all time. And since then I have been _here. _Watching. Waiting. Grieving and grimacing as he uses all of fucking creation as his own personal plaything. It is…a living hell."

"Okay…" Mariposa said with wide eyes. "But who the hell is "he"?"

"His name...I won't even say it." The Maker scoffed. "I can't. Every time a person says his name, he _knows_. He knows exactly who fucking says it, and for what reason. I can't say it. Otherwise he will know I am talking to you, and put a stop to it Mariposa."

"Jeez, talk about ambiguous..." Mariposa noted. "How much of a threat is he to us right _now?"_

"Bigger than you can possibly imagine." The Maker revealed. "But he is not a direct threat as of this moment, unless we allow him to be. He is not aware of the events happening on Earth nor would they matter much to him if he was not aware that I was involved in them. You are, after all, just one Earth in an infinite number. And hardly the first to be destroyed by a nuclear holocaust caused by Seth of Septaris."

"Then what makes us special?" Mariposa asked. "Why are we so important later on, if there's an infinite number of us?"

"Again, an answer as to which I am unsure of." The Maker sighed. "But there's a reason for everything, and I personally think that the reason you will be so "important" later on...is because you were sucked into this by accident."

"By _accident?"_

"Yes." The Maker confirmed. "You see, it is not right for mortals such as yourself to interfere or alter the events that the divine set into place, especially the events set into place by _him. _But for some reason, eventually you will make a change, an enormous one, to how _all _of this works."

"A-all of this? We're gonna change the entire omniverse?"

"Correct. But before you ask, I _still _don't fucking know how." The Maker said. "I only know that there will be a sequence of events that lead you up to that point, but I don't know what comes next. I don't think anyone does. I've tried to communicate with some of the most powerful seers in all creation, the ones who can practically see every possible future in the river of time, and they could predict nothing about you. Whatever comes next...you're on your own, in terms of divine help. Besides me of course." The Maker reassured. "But everyone else won't dare come near you if they know _he _could potentially be involved in it."

"..."

"I know, it's a shitload to take in. But don't worry, I think-"

"It's not that." Mariposa said. "It's something else."

"And that is…?"

"I've always wondered about something, and now..." Mariposa muttered. "This person you're talking about...the one who uses the omniverse as his own personal playground...is it Lyth-"

"DON'T SAY THE NAME!" The Maker screeched hysterically, the entire area shaking back and forth like an earthquake was taking place. Mariposa fell down and landed in a heap, doing her best to keep her lunch down as she was shaken up and down. "WHAT, ARE YOU INSANE?! A MERE MENTION WOULD DRAW HIM TO THIS PLACE AND CAUSE THE DEATH OF YOU! WHAT DID YOU THINK I MEANT?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"I...I…" Mariposa said, stumbling on her words and trembling like she was standing in the middle of a blizzard. "I didn't mean to..._oh god, please don't hurt me…" _She whimpered.

"YEAH, WELL...well…" The Maker started, before catching sight of Mariposa's frightened, crying face and losing its momentum faster than it had gained it. "...ughhhhh. I can't be mad at you anymore. Not like this. Not because of ignorance. You're just...a stupid kid after all. You...don't know anything."

"..."

"..."

"Where did you learn it? Where did you learn that fucking cursed name?" The Maker asked, sounding like it was somewhere between "I regret ever making anything" and "maybe we _should _summon him here so he can end my misery". "It had to be somewhere."

"I-it was Meteora." Mariposa whispered. "She learned about the five levels of beings from the Voice, including...his name, and she told us everything. I thought it was the same person you were talking about, when she mentioned that he was a destroyer and the most evil thing in the omniverse." She gulped. "It fits with your description."

"That little shit…" The Maker hissed. "How dare he. I swear to me, if I ever get out of here, the first thing I'm doing is casting a shadow over the entire Earth and torturing him for a few million years. And then...and then I'll get creative."

"Please don't rope all of Earthni into this." Mariposa pleaded. "If you're really that mad at the Voice, then just tell me where I can find Meteora and how I can take it down. Then we stop that catastrophe you were talking about earlier. Finish this conversation and get back to what's _really _important."

"A novel idea." The Maker said. "If I _knew _where your sister was. I have skimmed over the entire Earth, and yet...I cannot find her."

"I thought skim was a type of milk." Mariposa mumbled.

"...Jenkins wasn't that good at teaching you vocabulary, was he?"

"He did his best!" Mariposa contested, before shrinking back down and lowering her voice. "And, um...we didn't have that many tools to learn from. Just a dictionary and a few books. It was hard. For him. For all of us."

"You're still afraid of me, aren't you?" The Maker sighed, causing Mariposa to nod in response. "Hm. Forgive my earlier outburst then. And you know what, try and forgive all the swearing. I'm just so bored and so tired. So very...very tired."

"D-do you even need to sleep?"

"Nope." It said. "But...that's not what I meant by tired. You see, I want this to be done. I want _all _of this to be done. I believe I see an ending to your great journey, but the path to get there is...loose. Ever-changing. An absolute mess, to put it politely. And we have so much more to get through. At this rate...it could take years to finally finish this."

"...By journey, do you mean my whole life, or just until we get to that settlement?" Mariposa asked nervously. "Because knowing I only have a few years to live...that isn't very comforting."

"Hah!" The Maker exclaimed. "Your journey will not end with that settlement. Far from it, in fact. You will get new allies, but at least a few of your villains will still remain by then. You'll know when it's truly over Mariposa. As will I…"

"...More mystery…" She breathed, before sucking in her breath. "Okay. Speed round. Am I dead?"

"No."

"Then where are we?"

"My prison, in a way."

"How?"

"I transported your mind here with what powers I have available to me."

"Am I _going _to die once you return me to Earth?"

"..."

"..."

"Not if I have a say in it…"

"You sound really uncertain." Mariposa pointed out, before gazing at the ground. "You can't prevent me from dying, can you?"

"...It's complicated."

"Don't lie." Mariposa mumbled. "If I'm going to die, then just say it."

"If you were going to die, then I wouldn't have spent ten minutes explaining how important you are for the future." The Maker said. "And I wouldn't have brought you here after that thing swallowed you. There would be no point. I'd have let you go to whatever afterlife you're supposed to and forgotten all about it."

"Then how _are _you going to save me?"

"I can give you a bit of energy." The Maker said. "Everything I currently have left. It will take me weeks to gather up enough to do something like it again...but it should be acceptable, in terms of blowing that monster up from the inside."

"So...you're going to give me a bit of magic?" Mariposa asked. "So I can cast a spell like Meteora?"

"Not magic. Something else entirely." The Maker said. "The energy that the divine uses is different from magic. That's why they didn't fade out of existence when the magic dimension was destroyed. True, they lost some of their powers, but the majority survived. They were the ones who had the backup energy. The power that the universe was made out of before magic was created."

"And this power is…?"

"Remnants." The Maker deadpanned. "Of when everything was first created. It took an enormous amount of energy, but a lot of that energy was unstable. Some of it was thrown into different corners of the omniverse. Some of the gods found it and used it. And since that energy is infinite and can be used without any fear of it running out, they can wield it and survive for all time."

"So you're using that energy to keep yourself alive like the others?"

"No. Because I was one of the gods who was above the whole magic dimension incident. I didn't _need _to use it to stay alive. I was one who was not affected by it in any way."

"Because you were in prison?"

"...Sure." The Maker whispered. "But the point of all of this is is that I'm going to give you a bit of this energy to tear that monster a fucking new one."

"Will I even be able to handle it?" Mariposa pondered. "If only gods have wielded this stuff, then how could I?"

"I'm giving you a minuscule amount, which again is all I have." The Maker said, reassuring her. "As long as you don't do anything hasty or freak out, it should be pretty straightforward. You'll wake up, and then let loose with that energy just like your sister does."

"So closing my eyes for a few seconds, look like I'm trying not to go to the bathroom, and then thrust my hand forward?" Mariposa guessed. "Because that's exactly what she does."

"...Yeah. Do it whatever way you want." The Maker said. "But when it comes right down to it, you'll know."

Mariposa frowned. "Well, that's-OW!" She cried again, her hand instantly moving up to her left shoulder and rubbing it intensely. Because out of nowhere she felt something land on her shoulder, with a feeling of immense pain arriving one millisecond later. Her thoughts immediately went to the only person in the area, and she responded appropriately. "What the fuck?! Did you slap me again? Why the hell is-OW! Owowowowowowow! It feels like a lit match!" She moved both her hands to her shoulder and started scratching it like an out of control cat, but the painful fiery sensation remained, not at all affected by her attempts to get rid of it. "What's going on?! Are you doing this?!"

"Oh shit…" The Maker muttered, sounding like her being in immense pain was a nuisance. "That must be the stomach acid. I was wondering why that was taking so long."

"Th-the WHAT?!"

"Stomach. Acid." The Maker elucidated. "You are...you know...still inside a giant fucking monster. You honestly should have seen this coming. How did you think all those previous squires died when it told you that it devoured them?"

"I don't know, I thought they had been chewed to pieces!" Mariposa replied. She growled and took her vest off, although this did nothing to stop the excruciating burn, as it had already reached her skin and was busy eating its way through it. A moment later, another drop landed on the back of her left knee, which then exploded in pain as well. Mariposa grit her teeth together and did her best to not scream, although at this rate she wouldn't be able to hold it in. "BUT NOT THIS!" She shouted. "How does a monster made of lint even produce stomach acid in the first place?! What kind of sense does that make?!"

"You're singing to the choir here Mariposa." The Maker said. "But stop panicking, and try not to move around. It'll speed things up."

"Stop panicking?! I'm going to be _digested_ if I don't do something soon!" She yelled. "Actually, what I meant to say is if _you _don't do something soon! You said you wouldn't let me die in here, so hurry it up and get me out!"

"I can't! Not yet! I have to mend your injuries!"

"Wait, you can do that? Then why can't you just constantly help me as this damn acid drips doWNNNN!" She shrieked, another drop landing on the back of her neck as she said the word "down".

"Because I can't fix everything.! Only what's necessary for you to escape." The Maker claimed. "I can heal all your bones and make it so that you can walk again, but those bruises, scrapes, and the burn marks you just received will remain. It's all I can do from here while still giving you enough energy to make your escape."

Mariposa winced and didn't even get mad at this, too focused on the pain she was feeling to have any other emotion. "Fine!" She said. "Just do it! Do it and get me out of here! We can talk later or whatever!"

"...You'll have to wait weeks for that." The Maker said quickly. "And in that time the event involving your sister and the Voice will almost certainly happen. Sorry, but that's how it is."

"..."

"..."

"Do it." Mariposa demanded again, briefly regaining her composure. "Give me that energy so I can end this already. As much as I don't want to hurt that thing, even after threatening me around like that, it's like you said. I can't die here. Not like this."

"I'm glad we agree." The Maker. "And I want to apologize for all the swearing, it-"

"Okay, that's nice, but get on with it!" Mariposa yelled. "It's starting to pool at my feet and I can feel it burning through my fucking shoes!"

"Very well. But one last thing." The Maker said. "Although this meeting did not last as long as I would have liked it too, and we did not discuss all the topics that we should have, and was overall kind of a waste of time, there's one last thing you should know."

"Spit it out then!" Mariposa shouted, as another two drops fell in her right forearm and right knee. "Don't know how much time I have left…"

"When it comes right down to it…" The Maker started. "...Do not try to stop Meteora. I fear that the Voice getting what it wants is an irreversible path now, but there is still a way to stop it. However, in the end it will come down to her to fight it off, so when you feel like Meteora is finally fighting back...don't interfere."

"...Okay." Mariposa said, having no idea _why _this was important but not being in any mood to ask. "Goodbye. Now get me-"

"Of course. Goodbye Mariposa." The Maker mumbled. "I bid you good luck, although I wish...that things could have turned out differently. For _all _of us."

With that, a bright light engulfed everything, allowing Mariposa to catch a quick glimpse of some...thing in the sky. She saw a bright white core, lines of colorful light expanding outwards and quickly fading, then more sprouting up in their place. But this glimpse was all she got before the light took her completely and washed everything away, leaving her with a feeling of emptiness.

* * *

She woke standing up.

Mariposa sucked last in what felt like the first breath she had taken in almost an hour, but there was no relief from it. Because there was also no air. Her hands went to her throat as her face turned purple from the lack of oxygen, and she took a quick look around to decipher where she was.

Darkness. Of course. The bane of her existence, and the only thing she had come to expect from Butterfly castle. But she could also hear things. What sounded like water dripping into water, and wet clothes being thrown around and smacked into wall. After she recalled what had happened, as well as the conversation with the Maker, it took her only half a second to figure out where she was.

'Shit...gotta get out of here now!' She thought, cursing the Maker for not informing her that there wouldn't be any air. 'Where is it? Where is it?! Where is that damn energy I was told I would-"

As if responding to her request, Mariposa's right hand began to glow brightly, virtually erasing all the darkness around her and making it scurry away. She would have cried out if she had the air, as it was so high in luminescence that she thought she might go blind.

'Too bright! Too bright! Turn down!' She requested, getting the feeling that this power would do whatever she requested. And like clockwork, it did. Her hand dimmed until it reached a level more comparable to a powerful lantern rather than the sun, and Mariposa could finally see again, although spots danced in front of her vision and clouded half of it.

'Twice in one day...oh my god, if I actually go bli-URGH! SHIT!' She snarled, before the acid pooling at her feet reminded her that there was no time to gripe. She could feel it burning through her shoes and socks and broiling her feet, and it was getting higher. With no time to waste, Mariposa stuck her hand out in a random direction, and began to do the same thing her sister did. Concentrate, imagine the energy firing and vaporizing whatever was in its path, and be one with the power you're wielding.

Or at least that was how she described it. But it was the only thing Mariposa could rely on at the moment, because she didn't have the time to try anything else. And even worse, she could feel her vision beginning to darken as the lack of air was causing her to black out. And in a place like this, she knew that that meant death. If her entire body hit the...floor, she'd be dead in seconds.

It was now or never.

'Okay…' She thought. 'Concentrate. Imagine it...like a meteor coming down to Earthni...a ball of fire…'

As images of these things played in her mind, Mariposa could feel the energy in her hand getting stronger, and almost instinctively she knew exactly what to do, like the power itself was telling her. She outstretched her palm and moved her arm backwards, mimicking the movements that Mariposa made any time she cast those attack spells. And using the last bit of oxygen she had left in her lungs, Mariposa opened her mouth and let out a whisper, so quiet that not even it's intended target could hear it.

"I'm sorry." She breathed. "But there's no place for you here anymore."

And with what could very be well her last words spoke, she thrust her arm forward and launched the spell at the wall.

After that everything went white.

* * *

It was done.

Mariposa had won.

At least, in the physical sense. After the flash of white, she woke up lying on the ground of the lint room, giant burnt pieces of the stuff everywhere she looked. For a moment, after the blast, she thought she heard an inhuman scream, a whimper, or _some _kind of sound. But the odds that she heard anything was just as likely as the odds that there wasn't any noise at all.

The Maker had been telling her the truth though. Her legs and arms were intact. Her spine was no longer broken. Everything that would have killed her had vanished. But...she was still injured. Beaten. Burned. Fives major burns in various places, with dozens of tiny ones on her feet and ankles. Bruises galore. Aches in places she didn't even know she had.

But Mariposa was still alive. The Monster was gone. And permanently this time. There was no more lint. It was all charred and scorched to the point where none of it was pink anymore. Just a charcoal black.

It was dead.

It was dead and she had killed it. She sat up and took it all in, tears forming in her eyes as she remembered the conversation she had with it only a half-hour or so ago. The promise to teach it. Telling it that she would come back. That they'd make it to the settlement and that she would never abandon it like Janna had.

But in a way, she already did. Just like it had abandoned their promise by attacking her.

She wiped the tears away and got to her feet. It hurt like hell, but frankly, Mariposa couldn't care less. She was just about to leave, but then she spotted something a short distance away, hidden under a fallen rock. She walked over and threw the rock over, to reveal a single piece of lint, no bigger than a brick. Pink. Warm. _Alive. _It twitched, and seemed to try and move in her direction.

Mariposa sighed, put the rock back on top of it, and limped away towards the still-lit torch so she could finally find her way out. Their "promise" was dead now.

Because with the new information that the Maker had told her, she had a job to do.

And there was nothing left for her here.

**End chapter 39**

**A/N: Ouch. Well, that's that. I suppose this could be called a filler chapter of sorts, as the Monster is unimportant as a whole, but the Maker stuff was a rather...key moment. But in the end, Mariposa made a friend, and then it ended horribly. This isn't going to have a very positive effect on her psyche, and she definitely won't be going back to the castle anytime soon.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	40. Chapter 40: Meteora's Story of Woe

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 40**

**Meteora's Story of Woe**

Never had Meteora been in a more awkward position than right now.

There she was, sitting across from her parents, in a leather armchair that was softer and more comfortable than anything she had ever felt in her entire life. More than the beds at Janna's hideout, more than the beds at the Lucitor castle, and certainly more than the floor bed at Ery's hut.

To any normal person, it would feel like bliss. It was a hair made specially for royalty after all. Only the finest materials used, imported from different dimensions across the entire multiverse.

But to Meteora, it felt wrong and unfamiliar, just like all the beds she had slept on before. She preferred the _ground_ over this. Time and time again, proper beds were something she had never gotten used to, and possibly never would. Even back then, when she and Mariposa had been fighting over that pillow while they ate the remains of the lizard she killed, it didn't feel right in her hands. She didn't want it because it felt _nice._

She wanted it for the sake of wanting it.

A lazy explanation to be sure, but Meteora wasn't sure how else to put it. The pillow felt like a rock against her head, and a rock…felt like a pillow.

It was an odd adaptation her body had made to its environment that was likely a permanent one.

And the chair she was sitting on felt like that pillow, hard and cold and lacking any kind of comfort that was suited to her preferences.

But Meteora didn't complain. After she had appeared in the doorway out of nowhere and told them that they probably had questions, her parents had invited her in and made her a cup of...something. A dark brown liquid, with a smell similar to that chocolate thing she and Mariposa once found and fought viciously over after they each took a tiny bite. Meteora pretended to know what it was at first, but this failed as she immediately and foolishly took a swig of it after it was handed to her, resulting in the hybrid burning her tongue to all hell. Eclipsa had quickly given her an ice pack, but it only helped a little. The drink now lay unaccompanied on a nearby tabletop, with her father telling her that she "had to let it cool down first". In Meteora's defense, she had never _seen_ that type of drink before, but it's not like they knew that.

At least, not _yet. _The Voice's plan to tell them everything was still the one she was going with, but oddly, they didn't seem to be very suspicious of her. They were more surprised that she was out of bed rather than at all the crazy shit they had to have heard her literally _yelling _about not so long ago. Perhaps they put her to bed earlier than she thought and missed most of it? An intriguing possibility, and one that carried many more along with it. But this did seem to be how things were. Because if they had heard it all, they probably would have shown at least the _tiniest _amount of fear when they spotted her. Due to all the "I've killed dozens of people" and what not she shouted out, Meteora expected them to give her a look that was...well, not the one they were currently giving her.

Rather, they were concerned. When she first entered and said the words, they didn't even seem to hear them. Instead, they asked what she was doing up, so Meteora simply said that she couldn't sleep, a dumbfounded tone painting her voice. Multiple layers of paint as well. So they took her in, gave her the drink, sat her down in the chair, gave her the _ice pack, _and now she was here. The two of them were seemingly waiting for her tongue to stop hurting, as they had told her to snap her fingers twice if she was ready to talk about whatever she meant by "you probably have a lot of questions".

It was then that Meteora realized: _They didn't know. _Because if they had _heard_ her talking, then it should be painfully obvious what she came in to talk about. Unless they actually heard everything and assumed she didn't know, but whatever. Anyways, her parents seemed to be, by all means, clueless. Even the Voice was surprised, showing this by making a rather offensive off-handed comment towards them, resulting in Meteora telling it to shut up for a while.

However, the fact that they didn't know _was_ good. It meant that she could tell her story on her terms, without them making any obnoxious and incorrect assumptions that might cause trouble for her. Of course, there were still many questions swirling through her mind: Why didn't they know? Shouldn't they have heard me? If they did know then why are they so calm and why are they not telling me? These and others clouded her thoughts as she attempted to plan things out so that they worked in her favor, providing a rather difficult atmosphere.

And it's not like she was going to do that whole trial thing again, in a desperate attempt to figure out where she should take this. Screw all the mini-Meteora's. She could do this all by herself. Even if they _were_ technically...herself.

But that was a metaphysical and metaphorical rabbit hole that Meteora didn't want to fall into. So she continued holding the ice against her tongue and waited silently, her parents on the other side of the room talking about something that she couldn't make out. Probably her, but unless she snuck over and secretly listened in (something she was not keen on doing), there was no way to confirm this.

'Okay. Think.' She thought, ready to make another plan. 'Lots of possibilities here. More than I'm comfortable with. I think I can do it though. Option one, they didn't hear anything, and simply put me to bed after assuming I was asleep. This is the best one for me right now. It means, again, that I can tell the story my _own _way. Not by lying of course, but I can make it sound better. Give my reasonings for killing a person _before _I tell them I committed murder, for instance. That way, no one will think I'm a crazy serial killer.'

Meteora gulped and reached a hand up to her hair, twirling it around in her fingers and pushing a small portion out of her face. 'That still presents a problem, however.' She thought. 'They might simply suspect I'm lying. I may be their daughter, but if I start telling them about the dozens of people I've killed, even with an explanation beforehand, there's no guarantee that they won't be suspicious. But the only solution to that...is to make sure that they don't get the wrong idea from the get-go. I have to be certain that they trust me with every fiber of their being before even _starting _to explain the bad stuff. That way, they won't suspect a single thing, which they don't have to.'

Meteora nodded her head at this and let go of her hair, causing it to flop back in front of her face. She blew it out of the way with a puff and gazed at the floor, moving on to her second option.

'Next. The unlikely one, due to how they're already acting.' She thought. 'They know, but are acting like they don't as not to make me suspicious. This is the worst option. If they heard it all, and are hiding it from me, then that means they could be making plans to restrain me, arrest me, whatever. Any sensible person who heard all of that, whether the person they overhead was their child or not, would have them committed to a mental hospital, or at the very least, a police station. Odds are that they believed I was talking to a ghost or whatever, as I seldom mentioned the Voice by name."

Meteora glanced over at her parents, who didn't notice her glare. They were still whispering, but didn't seem scared or even weary of her. They still looked confused and worried for her well-being.

'...But I have my doubts.' She continued. 'That right there. The expressions on their faces. It's proof enough that whatever they plan to do with me, it's not malicious in any way. They're concerned, not scared. Of course, they would be concerned if they thought I was insane…' She pointed out to herself. '...But the way they treated me hasn't suggested that either of them think anything is wrong with my psyche. Just my sleeping habits.'

Meteora's left foot started twitching involuntarily, a side effect of her having remained completely still for a minute or so. It tapped against the floor in a rhythmic motion, creating a sort of tune that might have been part of Meteora's subconscious or something random and indecipherable.

'However...the main problem is what to do if this option is what's happening.' She thought. 'I suppose I should try the same thing. Tell them the truth from my perspective and inform them both that my earlier mumbling was me talking to the Voice, which is why it was so random and felt like they were missing something. This way, they can understand the outburst and the words behind it. They're probably just as confused as they are scared if this is the case, which will not help matters if things turn south. Jenkins told me that it's those types of people who tend to do the most damage in the middle of a crisis. The frightened ones.'

She shifted the ice pack and moved it so that it wasn't numbing her entire tongue anymore, but rather only part of it. But a second later the part that was no longer covered began to sting like a swarm of fire ants were attacking it, and Meteora groaned silently and moved it back to its original place. She huffed, realizing that was going to be a while before she was ready to say even a single word, if that pain was anything to go by.

'Ignore it.' She thought. 'For now, focus on your plan. The Voice's plan. If the second option is correct, I have to word it as carefully as possible, even more so than the first. A single slip of the tongue that may indicate I'm lying will be a cause for alarm, which wouldn't end well for anyone. Worst comes to worst, I might be forced to flee from my own parents to avoid getting tackled and/or hog-tied. If that happens, then any kind of negotiation attempt with them is pointless. They may not even believe I'm Meteora anymore, unless whatever told them I was coming, _something to figure out later, _informs them otherwise.'

She glanced at the one window in the room, which had a relatively thin glass pane that she could easily smash through. However, due to how high up the Temple was, jumping from any window would carry a giant risk. She could break one or several of her limbs, or it might just outright kill her if she landed the wrong way. Of course, there could be a little patch of grass right underneath it, as a few of the windows had, but Meteora hadn't memorized which windows had what, so really it was a...10-90 chance that she'd break her neck, the odds _not_ in her favor.

'But it's worth the risk.' She thought, trying to ignore the fact that it could result in her death for the third time. 'I can't just sprint out. I don't know my way around this place, and it's dark anyways. I suppose I _could _stall them long enough to cast another Solis spell to see my way around, but that'd also alert them to my position, along with any guards they have in the Temple. I didn't see any on my way here, but they _have _to be lurking around somewhere. There's no way they would leave this place unguarded. I can only imagine how many bigots in this town want to kill them. Probably have to deal with an assassination attempt every other night…'

"_What are you thinking about?" _The Voice chimed in, sounding quite curious. "_You've been quiet for a while…"_

Meteora exhaled some air through her nostrils. This was not what she needed right now.

"How I can escape if I need to." She whispered, this time making sure no one but the Voice could hear her. She had to do some painful maneuvering with the ice pack to do it, but she managed. "In case things go south, I need to find a way to safely get out without hurting anyone or myself."

"_...Wow." _The Voice said, clearly surprised. "_Isn't that a bit much though? Why would you need to escape?"_

"Because if my parents think I'm a mass-murdering psychopath, then I don't think it'll be a good idea to stick around." Meteora pointed out. "I have to take this slow and easy if I'm going to successfully convince them that I'm not evil. I've been going through some options, and all of them-"

"_I think you're worrying too much about this." _The Voice interjected. "_They're your parents Meteora. They would never hurt you unless it was in self-defense, and even then they'd balk. Even if they think you're going to try and murder them, you'll remain unharmed."_

"A few things about that." Meteora sighed. "First off, I know. They won't hurt me. But that's not what I'm worried about. They'd _restrain _me, not attack me. And then I'll get turned over to the police or E.D.F. or whoever, and then my problems will _really _begin."

"_Shouldn't restraining you be close to impossible, all things considered?" _The Voice asked. "_You have monster strength. No normal pair of handcuffs or ropes or whatever your parents can dig up to hold you down before the E.D.F arrives will hold you for more than a few minutes."_

"It'll take about five _seconds_ for the E.D.F to show up," Meteora grumbled. "This is the capital of Earthni. They have a giant base _right across the street. _They don't even need to get out their phone, just yell out a window and fifty soldiers will be here in no more than two minutes."

"_..."_

"So yeah, my main goal will be to escape if things go bad," Meteora said. "I'm not going to hurt my parents, and there's no way I can hold off that many people without going Butterfly. Something that I don't have _nearly _enough magic to do at the moment."

The Voice sighed. "_This sucks." _It said bluntly, repeating what Meteora had been thinking for the past half-hour or so. "_But at least you're still going along with my plan. I would suggest not saying "The world has ended and most people are dead in the future" as a start. Don't be that direct. It may only serve to confuse them."_

"I am aware of this, thank you," Meteora mumbled. "But I don't plan to start with that. I plan to see which option it is. If they heard what I was saying or not. Because...well…"

"_It doesn't seem like they heard anything, I know." _The Voice said. "_That is a bit odd. I'm not sure what this means, but it's quite possible that I was wrong in my earlier assumption and that you weren't speaking as loud as previously thought."_

"That would be nice. We need a little luck right now." Meteora stated. "Although as it is, things are probably going to go south pretty soon…"

"_Only if we let them. What are your parents talking about by the way?"_

Meteora glanced over towards Globgor and Eclipsa again, who were still whispering gibberish to each other. She still couldn't make anything out except for her name once or twice, which was spoken much lower than any other word. This immediately set off a few red flags, causing her to sigh.

"Nothing good." She muttered. "For all we know, they might have already called Old Jenkins and he could be on his way here, or they could be talking about how guilty they feel for not alerting me about how hot that drink was."

"_Hot chocolate."_

"Huh?"

"_The drink that burned you was hot chocolate."_

"Oh…" Meteora said. "Well, that explains why it reminded me of that chocolate bar. But...I have a question."

"_And that is?"_

"Why do you think this is happening?"

"_What, everything?"_

"Yes."

"_...And you want my honest opinion?"_

"Definitely."

"_Okay. I think the universe is trying to tell you something." _The Voice said. "_Why else would you be sent here for no reason if you weren't supposed to? Something important is going to happen, has to happen, and that's why you're here."_

"That's it?"

"_Did you expect anything more?" _The Voice sighed, rolling its imaginary eyes. "_I don't truly know why you are here. But I have sorted through the options and that's the one that makes the most sense to me. I mean, why do you think you're here Meteora, if not to learn or do something?"_

"Err…" Meteora hesitated, silently admitting that she had no idea. The Voice's opinion was honestly a much better one than she could ever come up with, and honestly, it made some lick of sense. But as usual, Meteora was open to more possibilities, and shared them accordingly.

"Maybe I was teleporting in my sleep?" She suggested. "We already know something weird is going on with my magic, the whole thing about it shielding my heart notwithstanding. That's why we got transported to the past in the first place. I think whatever caused that to happen made me teleport here subconsciously because I wanted to see my parents. Because…" She shrugged. "That's been my main goal since the beginning. So I dreamt of them, wished I could see them, and the magic responded to my wishes."

"_Hmm…" _The Voice hummed, surprised that she came up with an explanation that actually made some sense. But only some. "_No, I don't think so. First of all, I don't think you were the one to cast the spell that teleported you here. You would have certainly died of energy loss a literal millisecond later. The magic shielding your heart wouldn't have been able to do anything against a new charge like that. And even if it did, you'd have hours at most. So no, that theory is wrong."_

"Well gee, thanks for putting it nicely…"

"_Just being honest."_

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase, "honesty is not always the best policy"?"

"_That...that's not how it goes." _The Voice pointed out.

"Really? That's what Jenkins taught me."

The Voice sighed. "_Of course he did. But whatever. Like I was saying, you weren't teleporting in your sleep. You had to have been brought here for a reason."_

"And that reason is to do or learn something, I know," Meteora said, exasperated. "But what exactly do you think that _is_?"

"_Well…" _The Voice started. "_I may have been wrong earlier. You know how you're not supposed to mess with time and I told you as such because that'd be cruel for the inhabitants of the new timeline?"_

"Yeah. Why?"

"_I think you're supposed to be doing the opposite here. You're supposed to be changing something." _The Voice said. "_I don't know what it is, but it may be necessary to save this timeline and prevent some great catastrophe like the one that occurred in ours. Possibly even the same one."_

"You mean stopping Seth's prison break?" Meteora suggested. "You did say it was going to happen very soon. Maybe we should tell my parents about that so they can alert Jenkins who will then alert the E.D.F.?"

"_That will be tricky. It will be hard to say for certain if Jenkins will believe if you are truly from the future, or just some weird imposter look-alike that should be eliminated. And let me tell you, the latter option is the most likely."_

"I know. But I already have a plan to deal with that." Meteora said. "You see, after fifteen years of living with him, I know a bunch of things about him that I'm certain he wouldn't tell anyone else. Things that he told _us _and things that we figured out by ourselves."

"_Such as...?"_

"Well…" Meteora mumbled. "I know he secretly wants a kid. Someone to take care of. Something that'll distract him from having to protect the planet all the time. But his trust issues prevent him from meeting anyone and actually staying with them, so...yeah. That's something I can tell him. That will catch his attention."

"_..."_

"What?"

"_I would NOT tell him that." _The Voice suggested, taking on a tone of extreme seriousness. "_God, Meteora, that is something you should never make note of to a person, even if they are aware of it. And how do you even know it? In what situation did he inform you of this fact?"_

"He didn't. I figured it out by myself." Meteora whispered. "He likes having us around. He likes not being alone. And sure, we're annoying at times, but he puts up with it. The way he protects us...the way he listens to us...he doesn't think of himself as our father, but it's plain to see that he tries his hardest to act like one."

"_Well...that's, uh, sweet, but I still think it's a horrible idea. Also because it wouldn't make sense. He only took on a fatherly role after he took hold of you two. Not before. If you say "you actually want a child, but you're too insecure", he might just punch instead of believing you're from the future. And I'd rather that not happen, because communicating with me will be rather hard with a broken jaw."_

"Could he really break my jaw with just one-"

"_You're still only a teenager, Meteora, and he wouldn't be holding back if you said something like that."_

"...Okay fine." Meteora said. "But...I wasn't _really _considering it."

"_Sureeeeee…"_

"It's the truth!" Meteora claimed. " I was just using it as an example to show that I know things about him."

"_Well, if the time ever comes, pick a different example." _The Voice demanded. "_Talk about a bad first impression…"_

"That's how most of my impressions are," Meteora said. "But like we were talking about, do you think we should try and stop Seth's prison break?"

"_That could be an interesting way to change things." _The Voice said. "_However, I am not entirely convinced that stopping him will prevent the apocalypse."_

"What? But why?" Meteora asked incredulously. "He's the one who caused it. Why wouldn't-"

"_Because I don't think he's working alone." _The Voice said. "_Remember Jenkins' story? Way back when? Seth broke out of prison with the help of "a giant monster", according to that one guard with brain damage. And he cloned himself thousands of times. Assuming both of those things are true, then I think it's safe to say that he didn't pull this off alone. He had help. And they shared his same ideals of destroying the world. So even if we stop Seth, others might take his place and do the job themselves. Make more clones. Bring more monsters. Who knows. But if we want to save the world, then it might require more than stopping that prison break. It might take a little investigation so we can take them all down."_

"And you waited until now to tell this little theory of yours to me because…?"

"_Same excuse I've used plenty of times before, and the same excuse you used." _The Voice said. "_Too much on your plate, and you…"_

"...Have the full buffet, yes, I know." Meteora finished, regretting ever saying that. "But still. Stopping him is the first step, so we should focus on that first before we dive deeper into anything else."

"_Agreed. Of course, there is the possibility that this isn't the thing we're here to stop…" _The Voice then paused, as if searching for the right words. "_...But right now, I think we can safely assume that that is it."_

"Fantastic," Meteora said dryly. "But what about my parents?"

"_What about them?"_

"They knew I was coming," Meteora recalled. "Someone told them about that. We still have to find out who it is. Because _they'll _know why I'm here."

"_Yes, and I have looked into that whole matter." _The Voice said.

"And…?"

"_I still got nothing."_

"Oh, for the love of fu-"

"_Keep your voice down, you're still speaking out loud!" _The Voice reminded her, causing Meteora to glance at her parents again, who weren't paying her any mind. "_Also, I don't think they'd be very happy with you swearing like that."_

"Fair point," Meteora said. "But do you seriously not have anything for me in that aspect?"

"_It's the truth." _The Voice said. "_Whoever this is, they-"_

"Wait...waitwaitwait," Meteora interjected. "Doesn't this disprove your earlier theory entirely? About how I was transported here for a reason, now that we know it was some_one_ that's to blame?"

"_Um…no." _The Voice said. "_If anything, it only proves it further. Nothing in my theory is disproved by this fact. This being likely teleported you here for a reason, and now we have to figure it out. Why did you think they disproved each other?"_

"Because...by your wording it sounded like the universe _itself _was the thing responsible for me being here! Meteora exclaimed. "Not some god being like the level five or Lythol or whatever."

"_Both of them are level fives, and do not and will not have any interest in us. Ever." _The Voice pointed out. "_Also, the universe is not sentient. Just like your earlier one, this assumption makes no sense."_

Meteora huffed. "Well, I _thought_-"

"_No, it's okay, I get it." _The Voice said. "_You want to clear things off your plate, and an actual being transporting you here for whatever reasoning is a bigger thing to swallow than the universe itself doing it or whatever."_

"...Yeah." Meteora mumbled, acknowledging this and cursing the fact that it was true. "Okay fine. Forget that for now. I was wrong. But how do you not know who the cause of all this is? Shouldn't you be able to sense them if they're around?"

"_Things are not that simple." _The Voice said. "_Whoever this is, they're masking their presence from me, which would suggest a level four or an extremely powerful level three, possibly one that didn't lose any of their powers from the destruction of magic. Of course, this would mean that they might be from another multiverse, although I don't know what they'd want with you and me."_

"Hey, I wonder…" Meteora said. "What if they're not after _me _at all? What if they're after _you_?"

"_A possibility that I did not overlook." _The Voice said. "_But unlikely. The few level fours I have come in contact with have had a neutral or indifferent stance towards me, due to my being a "lower-level being". They didn't care. And in my current state, I pose absolutely no threat to any god being. Simply put, them being here for me and me alone does not make any sense from a logical standpoint."_

"Okay, but then that makes this whole mess make even _less _sense!" Meteora said. "If you, a level three, are of no interest to them, then what the hell could _me, _a level _two, _possibly do to catch their attention?"

"_Potential." _The Voice suggested. "_Remember. The monster-butterfly form. You could become a god with that form, capable of wiping out an entire solar system. Still not anything close to a level four...but certainly powerful enough to catch someone's attention."_

"But you said they might be from another multiverse," Meteora said. "Why would a person capable of destroying a solar-system be of interest to someone from another reality altogether?"

"_..."_

"Well?" Meteora said expectantly. "What do you-"

"_I don't fucking know, okay?" _The Voice swore, stunning Meteora with its uncharacteristic language. "_I'm as confused as you are. Facts are not lining up with each other and are constantly contradicting themselves. I'm more frustrated than you know. It's taking every bit of restraint I have to not just scream out in rage because of how convoluted this is all getting."_

"I wouldn't use convoluted," Meteora mumbled. "More confusing."

"_But you get what I'm saying." _The Voice said, more of a statement than a question. "_This is getting to be so much, even for me. You said you have the full buffet, but in case you haven't noticed, we're sharing a plate. I'm in your head. Whatever you have to deal with, I have to as well. And since you usually leave the more investigative and brain-racking problems to me...I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed."_

"Um...sorry?" Meteora said sheepishly.

"_There's no need to apologize. I understand." _The Voice said. "_I don't blame you for dumping your worst problems on me to figure out. That's what I'm here for after all. To teach you, and help you. But…" _It sighed and resumed a tone of informality. "_I do think I have a bit of a theory on that…"_

"On what?" Meteora asked. "Because we've been sorting through half a dozen different topics here, so you're going to have to be more specific."

"_About why this being had taken an interest in you and teleported you here." _The Voice said. "_In my personal experience, level four's do not get involved in things unless that thing is a direct threat to them, or will otherwise ruin their day. Most of the time they just sit around and play god over a random planet, trying to find some way to amuse themselves."_

"They sound like a bunch of dicks."

"_You put it better than I ever could." _The Voice chuckled. "_But this means that since they're interested in you, a random level two from another multiverse, that something is going to happen soon that concerns them."_

"What could I possibly do that's big enough to get the attention of someone like that?" Meteora asked.

"_I'm afraid we're likely going to have to find out that one on our own." _The Voice said. "_And-"_

"Oh my fucking god…" Meteora suddenly said, sounding like she hadn't heard a single word of what the Voice just said.

"_What is it? What's wrong?"_

"My parents." She said. "Why don't we just ask them?! They knew I was coming! Maybe they saw the person responsible for this when they told them that!"

"_..."_

"..."

"_I suddenly feel like one of those bystanders in mystery movies, where the detective finds a clue and complains about how blatantly obvious it should have been to everyone else."_

"Then I'm a bystander as well," Meteora said. "So we'll just ask them when the time is right, likely after we explain the past and all that."

"_But what if they don't know?"_

"Then we figure it out."

"_Sounds like a stretch…"_

"Possibly…" Meteora said. "But that stretch is our best bet at the moment. And as for now, I think we should just get the hard part over with before we and you start droning on forever and eventually not even realize what's going on in the world around me."

"_So then you're finally going to tell them? About your past? About who we really are?"_

"Yeah," Meteora said. "And while there's still a lot left to discuss…"

"_Understatement. At this point, we could spend a full day just talking about things and still have a topic left over to argue about."_

"...Mmm." Meteora hummed. "But like I was saying, I don't want to put this off for any longer. The quicker we do it, the quicker we can sort out this mess."

"_Are you in proper condition too?" _The Voice asked. "_I believe your tongue is still burned…"_

"It hurts, but it's nothing I can't handle," Meteora said, moving the bag away from her mouth and setting it down on the table next to her chair. "So yeah. I'm ready. Let's do it while I still have the drive to and the opportunity."

"_Alright then…" _The Voice said, actually sounding a little excited. "_Then call them over and spill the beans. It's showtime."_

"Little over-dramatic, don't you think?"

"_Do you have something better?" _

"...No," Meteora said, and with a sigh, she once again looked at her parents. Still talking. Still acting like she wasn't even there. Meteora wondered for a moment if _they _wondered if she was bored or waiting for them, but if they did they didn't show it. So instead she loudly cleared her throat, causing them both to turn her way.

"Um...there's something I need to tell you guys." She said. "Can you come over here? It's pretty important."

Both her parents exchanged glances but obeyed her, walking over and sitting down in the two chairs across from her. There was a brief awkward silence as Meteora pondered how she should open, before deciding that telling the truth about her earlier lies would be a good start.

"I...uh, haven't been entirely truthful with you guys about some things." She admitted, causing them both to simultaneously raise an eyebrow. "You remember earlier, right before I took a shower, where you asked me a bunch of questions about my past and what the future was like?"

"Yes…" Eclipsa said suspiciously, setting off alarm-bells in Meteora's head. "What about it?"

Meteora took a deep breath. "Most of that…"

"_All."_

"I mean, all of that...was a lie." She said, earning a shocked expression from Eclipsa, while Globgor merely raised another eyebrow. "Now before you freak out, I can explain myself, and-"

"_All _of it was a lie?" Eclipsa asked/repeated. "Every single word?"

"...Pretty much." Meteora said softly, having expected this kind of response but still not being ready for it. "I'm sorry. It's just that I was worried about what your reaction would be if I told you the truth. Or that you wouldn't want to believe me."

"Meteora, we believed you earlier because you said back then that it was the truth." Eclipsa pointed out. "No matter what you told us, if you said it was true, then...we'd have listened to you and accepted it as that. Although…" She mumbled. "Why wouldn't we _want _to believe you?"

Meteora inhaled sharply. "I think it's best if I explain that part with the story." She said. "But before we get to that...I just want to say I'm sorry again. You guys are my parents, and it was _so _hard to lie to you like that...but I didn't know what else to do. And I'm aware you still don't know why it was so hard, but I hope you can forgive me and-"

"Meteora, of course we forgive you. All teenagers hide a few things from their parents." Globgor interjected, as if she had simply lied about taking a cookie from a jar and not about her entire backstory and what the state of the world was. "Plus, I already knew you weren't telling the truth. I'm just glad you decided to come clean."

Meteora gaped at him, as did Eclipsa. "You _knew?" _They both said simultaneously, and then Eclipsa spoke first. "Then why didn't you tell me earlier? Sure, we were both suspicious earlier that not everything she said was true, but I didn't know that you suspected _everything _was a lie! Why didn't you…" She exclaimed, her voice trailing off.

"Because I wanted to be absolutely sure," Globgor replied. "I was only ninety-nine percent sure, and I needed Meteora to tell us about it by herself to get that up to one hundred. I was worried that if I told you, _you_ wouldn't believe me."

"_Wow, it just looks like everyone was lying to each other. How fun." _The Voice commented. "_Hopefully your entire family dynamic isn't ruined before the story even begins. You should probably step in."_

"Mom, Dad, please don't argue about something like this, it's all my fault to begin with." Meteora pleaded. "If you want to yell at somebody, just yell at me. I'm sure I deserve it after the stunt I pulled."

"We're not going to have a screaming match with each other Meteora," Eclipsa said. "And while I _am _surprised and slightly irritated that the story we spent the last few hours pining over was just effectively made worthless…" Meteora flinched, and Eclipsa sighed. "...I can see it in your eyes that you had a good reason for doing so. And I understand now why you answered so few questions earlier. Struggling to decide whether to continue lying or just come clean?"

"...Yeah. That's about right." Meteora said. "Well...I guess I should start from the beginning, unless there's something else you want to talk about."

"Actually…" Eclipsa started. "There is _one _thing I want to ask. Meteora...are you afraid of us?"

"...Yes." Meteora whispered, keeping her eyes glued to the floor.

"Why?"

"Because I've only met you once, and that was a version of you fifteen years into the future. All I have is stories, and I'm afraid that you won't be how those stories portrayed you." Meteora said, although that was only the half of it. "And I'm worried that you're going to look down on me or disown me when I tell you the story. I've done things...I'm not proud of."

"We've all done that Meteora," Globgor said, placing a hand in her hair and ruffling it. "Heck, before I met your mother, I was made into a myth simply because Mewmans didn't want to believe I existed! I ate dozens of people and set fire to villages, terrorized the countryside, and basically was just a horrible person." He sighed. "But your mother still loved me and forgave me, and so did a lot of other people when they saw how much I cared about _you. _So trust me when I say that no matter what you've done, we'll forgive you for it."

"Okay…" Meteora said softly. 'This is it.' She thought. 'This...is where it all gets set loose.' She took another deep breath and stared them both in the eyes. "The world…in the future..." She started. "There's not much left of it. As far as I know, all human countries and governments have likely collapsed, billions of people are dead, and the survivors are constantly at war with each other, fighting to survive on what resources are left."

A stunned silence followed afterward, and Meteora wondered if she should have used a different opening line. But that truth would have come eventually, and so it was probably better to just get the hard part…..._one _of the hard parts over with.

"If you need a moment to take all that in, I can-"

"So it's gone then?" Eclipsa asked, a longing look in her eyes. "Earthni was...a failure? We all failed in the end to make things right?"

Meteora gulped. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's, except for the person that caused it. I suppose if I explain that much, then understanding the reasoning behind a couple of my decisions will be easier."

She wiped a hand over her face and recited the story again, one she had memorized the letter. "In my time, fifteen years ago and maybe a year from now in this timeline, Seth of Septaris escapes from prison with the use of a giant monster. He...disappeared for a few months and then showed at the E.D.F.'s headquarters with an army composed of thousands of clones of himself. He stormed the base and took over the control system that gave him access to every nuclear weapon on Earthni, and then he kinda...blew it all to hell."

"..."

"..."

"Yeah, it's a lot," Meteora said. "And as far as I know, no one had seen him since. Which either means he could have purposefully let himself be destroyed in the nuking, or escaped and is keeping a low profile for whatever reason."

"Wow," Globgor exclaimed, letting out a whistle. "When does uh, this prison escape happen? Because if that is the start of the process that eventually ends with the world being destroyed, then won't stopping the prison break fix everything?"

"Um…" Meteora hummed, recalling how the Voice said earlier that the end would likely happen with or without Seth, something that it had annoyingly not been revealed to her until now. "I'm just gonna tackle the first question. And that is...it's happening pretty soon."

"What? How soon?" Eclipsa queried, a sudden look of fear flashing in her eyes.

"_Sometime within the week." _The Voice said, before Meteora could even open her mouth. "_Could be six days from now, or tomorrow. Not sure of the exact calendar date, but somewhere in between that time."_

"Sometime within the next six days," Meteora said, making her parents eye's bug out in surprise. "Which means it could happen tomorrow, or six days from now. So I think after we're done with this, we should call Jenkins and that prison so we can stop Seth from breaking out and-"

"No, we should call them now so they can amp up their defenses!" Eclipsa interjected, getting out of her chair. "If a giant monster is really going to attack them, then they're going to need all the preparation time we can give them. I'm going to-"

"Eclipsa, wait, calm down!" Globgor said. "I think we should handle that _after _Meteora tells her story."

"Wha…? No, we shouldn't!" Eclipsa yelled.

"Okay, just hear me out…"

The Voice sighed. "_They're fighting again."_

"I am aware of that, yes," Meteora grumbled.

"_Well, at least it's for a good reason this time."_

"There's never a good reason for them to be fighting," Meteora said, trying to drown out the sounds of her parents arguing. "But whatever. Do you think we should postpone this already so Eclipsa can call Jenkins, or just keep going?"

"_I'd keep going. I do know that it happens late in the day no matter what, so even if it is tomorrow, they'll still have plenty of prep time. And the E.D.F. can probably get a few thousand tanks and helicopters and all that to the prison in the span of...maybe an hour? And I don't mean crappy little tanks, I mean those huge ones like the one Drosid had. So even if you alert them two hours before the attack, they'd be fine. The initial response would be a tidal wave of missiles and bullets, and no monster could survive that barrage. _

"Should I tell them that, or…?"

"_I would, yes."_

"Guys, stop," Meteora said, making them both pause mid-sentence. "Mom, it's fine. We should finish talking about this now and call the prison later so we don't get off track again. I don't want to have to wait a few hours and then be too nervous to tell you everything again like earlier."

"That may be true Meteora, but I believe this takes precedence," Eclipsa said. "If Seth is going to escape, then-"

"No, it's _fine,_" Meteora repeated. "First off, the attack is happening later in the day, no matter what day it is. Second off, even if we call the prison two hours before the breakout, they'll still have time to prepare. They can send a thousand tanks and helicopters there in an hour, which will be more than enough for any monster." She explained, relating the Voice's words to the letter. "Trust me, it's going to be okay. And it might not even happen tomorrow! The day most likely for the attack to happen is…"

"_I believe that would be three days from now."_

"...three days from now!" Meteora finished, leaving her parents baffled as to why she took a five-second pause. "So I promise you, unless we sleep in till five o'clock in the afternoon, there's no way we can't stop this. Okay?"

Eclipsa sucked a breath and seemed to consider this. While she was still teetering on the edge of whether she should just flat out ignore this or listen to Meteora and sit back down, she couldn't disagree that her daughter made several good points. However, there was a problem. The prison was already one of the most heavily fortified and defended structures on Earth, with no discernible towns, villages, or any other signs of civilization for almost 50 miles. The sheer amount of firepower stored there could take over a medium-sized country, so if this monster plowed through it like it was nothing and freed Seth, then would bringing in _more _guns even work? Could it just smash through those as well, or, and this was a truly terrifying possibility, did weapons like that even hurt it?

She couldn't ignore this fact.

"I'm sorry," Eclipsa said. "But I still have to do this."

And without giving Meteora another chance to try and change her mind, Eclipsa walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving an irritated Globgor and Meteora in the dust.

The Monster King let out a puff of air. "Don't worry. She'll come around eventually." He said, leaning back further into his chair.

"I get that, but I still think we could have tried to stop her," Meteora mumbled. "Or at least done _something._"

"I don't think we should," Globgor said. "You made a lot of good points, but so did she. Several I can't disagree with. If she wants to call Jenkins, then that's her decision. I just hope he believes her...especially the part about you, when he asks where she got that information."

"Knowing Jenkins, he won't believe it until he sees it," Meteora said. "He's always kind of been that way…"

"So you _do_ know him then." Globgor surmised. "In the future."

'Crap.' Meteora thought. 'Was hoping to reveal that a little later…'

"Yeah." She admitted. "I definitely know him. Everyone I know knows him."

"What's...that mean?" Globgor asked, tilting his head. "Is he just friends or enemies with everyone in the future? Er...everyone that's left?"

"No, it's more the fact that I...don't know a whole lot of people," Meteora admitted, before sighing. "Okay. I'm just going to pick up where we left off earlier, with Seth destroying the world. Because even if mom's gone, I still want to tell this story right now. So I'm…"

"Gonna tell me," Globgor said. "That's okay. I don't think Eclipsa will mind. And if she wants a recap, then I'll give her the highlights of everything."

"There's a lot of highlights," Meteora said. "Hope you're ready for it all, because it's one hell of a story."

"I'm probably not, but if you decided that now is the time, I'm not going to stop you," Globgor said sheepishly. "Alright. Go on then. So after Seth blew everything up…"

"We were in Echo Creek at the time," Meteora said. "In the middle of a party, if I remember correctly. Jenkins was there, and he got a call that the base was destroyed and the nukes were up in the air. We all fled and tried to get out of the city as fast as possible, but…" She shook her head. "...We weren't fast enough. From what I know, the wave of dust or fire or whatever crashed all the cars we were leaving in, and I got separated from you guys."

Globgor made a small "tch" sound and leaned forward slightly. "The most surprising part is that Jenkins willingly went to a party that included the rest of us." He chuckled. "I wonder what made him do that…"

Meteora laughed in response. "Yeah, when I learned about that...I had trouble believing it for myself. He isn't the social type."

"_Definitely_ not." Globgor agreed, before frowning. "But of a side-track here...you said the world was basically destroyed? That not much is left?"

Meteora looked away and slowly nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty much the apocalypse. Just a wasteland wherever you look. Most of the radiation has died down to almost pre-apocalypse levels, but I think there are still some places that are thick with it. A few major cities...a couple of places that used to be deserts." She huffed. "It was a major threat early on. It was a miracle we never got radiation sickness."

"How big is your group?" Globgor asked. "_We_ never got radiation sickness? How many people are you surviving with out there?"

"Three," Meteora said.

"_Hey, what about-"_

"You don't count."

"What doesn't count?"

"Nothing," Meteora said quickly. "I'll explain later. But it's just three of us, and this coincides with where we left off. I'm not exactly sure what happened after the crash, and neither is anyone else I met, but somehow, Jenkins found me and Mariposa, the Diazes second kid, took us, and has been raising us ever since. For...fifteen years."

"..."

"..."

"...Oh."

"Yeaaaaaah…" Meteora mumbled. "I know it's hard to believe. Jenkins taking care of two children in the apocalypse is probably something you can't even imagine."

"That's putting it lightly," Globgor said. "He did not strike me as the father type. Heck, he didn't even strike me as the "I like to talk to people" type. He's aloof, and usually rude, and uncaring, and likes to finish things as fast as possible, and he sees enemies everywhere."

"Well...I have experienced a few of those things." Meteora said. "But if that's what he was like in the past...err, _right now, _then I can assure you he's not in the future. Jenkins really cares about me and Mariposa. He's protected from anything and everything us for a decade and a half, basically raised us, taught us things, did everything a…" She gulped and bit her lip. "...a parent should. I'm not saying that you guys didn't do that, I'm just defending the fact that he-"

"It's alright. If he was a good caretaker, then I'll take your word for it." Globgor interjected. "As much as I'm struggling to believe it." He ran a hand over his head again. "Geez. So just to clarify...he somehow got ahold of you after the car crash…"

"Yeah. Again, I still don't know how. He doesn't remember, or just doesn't want to talk about it." Meteora said. "And since it seems to be a pretty sensitive subject, me and Mariposa don't push him for answers about it."

"I see," Globgor said. "And he raised you along with Mariposa?"

"Mm-hm. She's pretty much a sister to me." Meteora beamed, a smile spreading across her face. "We're great friends and that's an understatement. Even if we have had our...disagreements in the past."

"No friendship is without hardships. Especially if it's lasted for what basically equates as your entire life." Globgor said. "Although I am relieved she's okay in the future. She's so sweet, even as a baby. You've had quite a few playdates together." He chortled. "Although your relationship with her brother could best be compared to a boxer and a punching bag."

"Marco." Meteora deadpanned. "I still hate him. Never completely understood why, it's just a weird part of my personality."

"I can think of a couple reasons if what he and Eclipsa told me is true…" Globgor whispered. "But nevermind that. I have to ask. What was it like being raised by him?"

"It was...odd," Meteora said. "Like I told you, he was a good father. He protected us with his life and put it on the line countless times when we were still too young to properly defend ourselves. Got quite a few nasty scars because of it."

"Scars…" Globgor repeated, before taking note of Meteora's partially missing ear again. "Was that "knife wound" one of them? The one you got by playing around in the kitchen?" He asked, giving her a smile to show that he wasn't angry with her for lying. However, Meteora's face still turned bright red out of embarrassment, and she turned away a second later.

"I honestly _wish _I had been a knife that did that." She mumbled. "Of course, it probably would have been slower than a bullet, but Jenkins is a lot better at treating knife wounds than bullet wounds. Because among the three of us, the amount of times we've been stabbed or slashed is in the double digits."

"You were _shot?" _Globgor gasped, his eyes expanding to near-comical proportions again. "I...okay. Wow. I just…you're still only a teenager and you have to deal with…" He paused and stopped his rambling before putting his hands together. "How long ago was this? Who did this to you?"

"It was pretty recent," Meteora said. "A few weeks ago. We were attacked by a monster after I accidentally...blew up his truck…" She whispered.

"You did what?"

"Later," Meteora said quickly. "But basically, he attacked us, threatened to shoot us, and Jenkins tried to stop him. But one of the bullets went wild and hit me in the ear, and that's how I got this injury. Jenkins patched it up as best he could, but as you can see...he's not a surgeon."

"It's still a much better job than I ever could," Globgor said, before huffing. "But to think that someone would just..._shoot _you like that, someone's who hardly even made it past childhood, all so they could survive, it's something I...I..." He hesitated and swallowed what he was about to say. "...I can totally believe." The Monster King choked out. "Ah, who am I kidding, acting all shocked like this? I did actions that were just as bad in the Mewman-monster war hundreds of years ago. And this is the apocalypse you're talking about. People will do _anything _to survive."

"That's putting it lightly," Meteora said. "But dad...I've hurt my fair share of people to live as well. All of us have. Me, Jenkins, and Mariposa. Mostly Jenkins, but still. Mariposa and I…" She looked away. "...We've had to kill people before. We've had to do some pretty awful things to see the next day. And while Mari usually did most of it once it became part of our lives, and I just tried to stay back...most of the time that wasn't an option."

Globgor sucked in his breath and shook his head. "I figured that was the case the second you started describing what the world was like. It also explains why you were so afraid to tell us the truth. You thought we would abandon you, right? See you as a killer."

Meteora nodded silently.

"Hm. Well...it's okay. I guess." Globgor said. "I'm not disappointed or angry, because it's honestly not my place to be. I still have no idea how many hardships you must have faced out there. If I get angry at you for killing, for _defending_ yourself, then I'd have to get angry at myself too. But…" He stared her dead in the eye. "You _only _did it to defend yourself, yes? Never for...fun? Or anything like that?"

"No, no, only for self-defense," Meteora said. "None of us ever killed for fun. Although some of the people we killed...we probably could have just wounded and left behind. But Jenkins told us that we shouldn't do that, because they'll either come back and get revenge, or they'll die of their injuries due to exposure, so it'd just be better to put them out of their misery."

"I can attest to that," Globgor admitted, getting a few quick flashbacks of the wars he was in. "Do you know _how _to kill a person? Did Jenkins teach you how to properly fight back?"

"How to murder someone in under a few seconds was one of the first skills he taught us," Meteora said casually. "We took it seriously. He took it seriously. He made sure to teach us where to strike, how to strike, and how to know if a person's really dead or just faking it. It was intense training, but it paid off."

"One of the first things you learned…" Globgor echoed. "What age was this?"

"Ehh...five? Six? Around that time. It took a few years to learn everything."

"_Five_ years old?!" Globgor gasped. "You learned how to kill at five years old?"

"Yup. I was practically a toddler." Meteora mumbled. "But he thought it was necessary, and we were too young to say otherwise. Besides, it _was _necessary. That was the world we grew up in. You had to be merciless to survive. You couldn't let other people take advantage of you. You had to fight back with everything you had just to see the sunrise the next day. And you can't allow yourself to remember those things either. The memories of taking a life...you can't let them stick with you. Because it's a distraction. You're not allowed to feel guilt, you're not allowed to cry about it, you have to turn yourself into a heartless robot hell-bent on destroying everything in their path for your own ends."

She shrugged. "Or at least that's what Jenkins tried to teach us. But we didn't. Me and Mari...we cried. We felt guilty. The murders stuck with us. Even today, I can perfectly recall every single person I killed. Their voices...their faces...everything. Although there are a few…" Meteora glanced down at her claws. "...that I've definitely tried to block out."

"..."

"..."

"If I _ever _meet Jenkins in the future, I'm going to have a few words with him," Globgor growled. "Even if it's the apocalypse...teaching that kind of thing to children…what the hell."

"In all fairness, it worked," Meteora said. "Because we had that mindset, or tried to have it at least, we pushed through it all. We never would have been able to do something like that if he hadn't forced us too. It ducked at times, but it got the job done."

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it," Globgor said. "Age five, eh? Hmm…" He hummed. "What other things did he teach you?"

"A lot," Meteora replied. "He taught us how to hide, where to find things in ruins we came across, and how to make it so that we sweated less even when exerting ourselves to the limit."

"Bit of an odd skill to have," Globgor commented.

"It was to conserve water," Meteora revealed. "It was something we kinda _had _to learn. We didn't have much in the way of supplies most of the time, and even if we did we still had to split it three ways or eat it before it spoiled. And while water didn't spoil, we still usually had to take the time to clean it, try and distill it, all that. Most of the water came across...was far from clean. That's why I spent so long in the shower. It was the first time I had ever _seen _water that clear before. No dirt, no dust, nothing floating in it that gets stuck between your teeth. It was...it was new. And nice."

Globgor smirked. "Explains why your hair was so dirty as well. You've never bathed before, have you? With water that scarce, doing so would be a colossal waste of it."

"I've actually bathed a few times," Meteora muttered. "Alone of course, in any rivers or lakes we came across. But like most useful things, those are far and few between when it comes to being safe enough to even wade into, much less submerge your entire body in. Not to mention the fact that we had no towels, so we just had to _wait _until we were dry enough to put our clothes back on. Which took...a lot longer than it should." She seethed. "It was an annoying experience overall. And embarrassing, just being exposed like that in the middle of nowhere. So all in all, we didn't have a lot of reasons to clean ourselves. The cons outweighed the pros, and since _everybody _we came across shared the same mindset, we all got used to the smell."

Meteora buried her fingers in her hair again, frantically twirling it around like she would start fidgeting in her seat otherwise. "But I suppose that it's not so bad with a proper shower." She admitted. "But uh...sorry if that has an influx on your...water bill, I think it was called, later on. Jenkins told me that you had to pay for everything in the past, even water."

"Trust me, the amount of water you used is nothing compared to little you," Globgor said. "She splashes around so much that we have to refill the entire tub every five minutes, and the entire process lasts about...forty-five. On average."

Meteora chuckled. "I've noticed that she doesn't seem to recognize that I'm her. Or at least, she doesn't care."

Globgor nodded. "I think it's because of how you smelled. Her sense of smell is like…" He waved his right hand around in a circle, trying to find the right word for it. "...I don't know. But it's greater than any monsters I've seen before. I swear, one time she suddenly jumped out of her crib and went to the kitchen to grab a knife. We stopped her and took it away, but five minutes later Marco showed up looking for something he left behind from his last visit." She shook his head. "She was definitely planning to stab him, but I don't know if she actually _sensed_ that he was coming, or just smelled him from a literal mile away, but me and Eclipsa think it's the latter."

"So...she didn't recognize me because I was all dirty then. And probably had the same scent as a fifteen-year-old piece of mold." Meteora said. "You guys did say I needed to take a bath. Although the look on your faces was proof enough of that."

"I'm sorr-"

"No, you don't have to apologize, I get it," Meteora said, waving it off. "But...what do you think she'd have done if she _did _know I was her?"

"Nothing good." Globgor grit his teeth together, although it was more out of nervousness than anger. "She'd either try to make you help her kill Marco, or attack you thinking you were some kind of imposter."

"Ehhh...the first option doesn't sound so bad," Meteora said. "I mean, if we both hate Marco…"

"She's almost killed him approximately 72 times in the last three months," Globgor said. "And that's not even because of him coming here. She escapes the Temple an average of three times every week, no matter _what _we do to stop her, with whatever weapon she created with her toys so she can murder him in his sleep. The Diazes have called us a lot asking for us to come pick up our baby, and I think they're planning on getting a steel-reinforced door. It's been tiring and irritating for everyone involved."

"Well that's...honestly terrifying," Meteora replied, although the mental image still brought a smile to her face.

"Yeah. And if you for some reason join forces with her…" Globgor threw his hands up and made a "poof" sound. "He won't last an hour. Especially considering that you have magic, which I'm sure is...one heck of an explanation."

"Yeah...I'll tell you about that in a second," Meteora said. "But I have to ask. How is she so smart at such a young age? You make it sound like she's some kind of genius, constantly breaking out of here and making deadly weapons out of _toys_. I was pretty smart about a few subjects when I was a kid, thanks to Jenkins lessons, but this is like...she's already received all of the lessons before birth, and now she's just putting them to use. What's up with that?"

Globgor shrugged. "I honestly don't know. One day it felt like we just woke up and she was a hundred times smarter in that kind of stuff. How to make traps, where to find food, where to aim her teeth when she was leaping at Marco...it was just a mystery." He mumbled. "Our current theory is that Janna has been teaching her things that we've been unaware of, considering that she comes over to babysit every now and then." Globgor sighed. "But we asked, and she said no, and while that could easily be a lie...I really didn't see any reason why she'd do that. So for now we still don't know."

"Hmm...one day she just woke up like that? Out of the blue?" Meteora asked.

"Yup."

Meteora leaned back and hit her lip, wondering if the theory she was currently formulating was correct. If the past could somehow be affected by the present, or future in this case, could it have been possible that the baby version of her somehow received memories or skills from the future of how to do all that? Because what Globgor was describing was exactly the kind of things that Jenkins taught her. The traps...how to find things...where to aim to kill...it sounded suspiciously like what she went through. And while Meteora was sure that this couldn't be possible unless she somehow sent those memories subconsciously back in time (how would that even work?), the idea still intrigued her. Because that meant baby her should be able to send _her _memories as well. But how…?

'No.' Meteora thought, shaking her head. 'Don't get caught up in that. I can ask the Voice and figure it out later. For now...I think it'd be best to start talking about magic and get that bit over with. And since he just mentioned Janna, I can do both of those at the same time. I just hope…' She gulped. '...that he believes me when I tell her that she's evil. Because if there's anything that my parents would think is a lie, it's that.'

"Okay." She said. "That was interesting to know. But I think I should tell you about how I received my magic and found out it wasn't destroyed. Because that's a really important part of this story, and I think it'd be best to get it over with."

"Feel free to start at any time," Globgor said. "I'm listening."

Meteora shifted in her seat again and spoke up. "It all started a few months ago." She said. "Give or take a couple of weeks. We were moving through a mountain pass, but unfortunately, the entire area was in the territory of the Black Priests, who are a bunch of mask-wearing black-magic obsessed cultists that live in the mountain and kill any trespassers. But that was the only way around, so we didn't have any choice."

"Why?" Globgor asked.

"Why...what?"

"I mean...did you have to go _that _way?" He iterated. "Was there something special on the other side of that mountain? Because from what it sounds like, you guys were just wandering around with no real set goal, just hoping to stumble upon someone or something."

"Accurate as that may be…" Meteora admitted. "We weren't really "wandering around" as much as one might think. Jenkins has a map of every area we went to. We were just going from town to town, settlement to settlement, trying to find any sign of you guys or anyone else from Echo Creek that might be able to help us. Jenkins heard from someone at the last settlement that we visited that there was a city on the other side of that mountain, so we wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, we were also told that the Black Priests were there. But every other way around was too barren, and Jenkins didn't want to head back...so we left. Conveniently a few minutes before a war band of Spetairans attacked the settlement. We had to watch the entire thing burn only half a mile away, unable to do anything about it. Which is kinda just the norm for us."

Globgor let out another whistle. "That sounds harsh. To have to watch all that kind of stuff happen but not interfere. Although...why didn't you go back and help?"

"Because it was already out of the way, and when we realized that the attackers were Septarians, we knew that everyone there was already dead. No point in getting ourselves killed to try and save them." Meteora explained, only slightly aware of how cold that sounded. "And besides, we didn't have any weapons that'd make a permanent mark on those regenerating assholes. Only a couple of knives. And trying to fight them hand to hand was...obviously not an option. We'd be dead in seconds, and I didn't have magic then."

There was a brief silence between the two of them, Globgor digesting what she just said while Meteora hoped it was the right thing to say, before she made a "tch" sound and continued talking.

"But we're getting off track." She said. "So, the three of us headed to the mountain pass during a time where we knew that they would be less inactive. Unfortunately, "less" does not mean "completely", and they spotted us. We tried to run, but they surrounded us and were about to kill us...until their leader stopped them."

Meteora then looked her father dead in the eyes. "Okay. I've been trying to make this story as believable as possible for you, cutting out some of the more wild parts that I think I could properly explain later. But there's no way around what I'm about to tell you, so you're just going to have to bear with me for this next part."

"Uh...okay," Globgor said confusingly. "So who was their leader?"

Meteora shook her head. "I think you know each other decently enough. It was...Janna. She's the big boss of the little mountain cult."

"..."

"..."

"Janna," Globgor said blankly.

"Yeah."

"The person who babysits you and the person who I call a friend."

"Yeah."

"She's in charge of the group of evil murderers who kill anyone that so much as steps foot on the mountain."

Meteora nodded slowly.

Globgor put his hand together and put his entire bottom lip into his mouth. "You're right." He said, out spreading both his arms. "I'm having trouble believing you."

Meteora almost laughed. "I suspected you would. And I'm sorry, but I don't have any proof of this, so you'll just have to take my word for it."

"Good god…" Globgor exclaimed. "Well, there's another avalanche of questions to add to the rest, so I think I'm just going to start with a simple one: What happened after she stopped her lackeys from killing you?"

"She took us to her mountain base," Meteora said. "It was built right into the side of it, with giant tunnels and metal doors and _actual _electricity inside. Something that was a bit of a rarity out there…"

"I can imagine," Globgor said. "But why did she take you in if she wanted to kill you?"

"You know, I'm actually not sure," Meteora said. "Maybe she was just trying to give us a false sense of security? Maybe she was cruel and wanted us to think we were safe before killing us? I don't know l. But either way, she took us inside, gave us some things to drink, and told us her story. Now, what I'm about to tell you is complete bullshit, she totally made it all up, so keep that in mind." Meteora swore, before clearing her throat. "She said she was traveling with a group of a bunch of kids from the school in Echo Creek to get away from the blast, and then River…"

Meteora paused and wet her lips. "Hey, is River the gym teacher at the local school in this town?"

"Gym teacher?" Globgor said incredulously. "No. I think he's looking for a career in wrestling. Why, did Janna claim he was the gym teacher?"

"Yeah, and that he sacrificed himself so she and everyone else could get away," Meteora said. "Don't worry, he's not dead, future Eclipsa has confirmed that. But back to the story within the story, Janna said that they traveled for a while before stumbling upon this mountain, although some people died along the way. They settled here, made some creepy costumes for whatever reason, and I guess developed such a sense of privacy that they bumped off anyone they saw. Not sure how they intended to add numbers to their ranks using that method, but whatever."

"So that's Janna's story," Globgor said. "Then what's the _real _story?"

"Something horrible," Meteora said casually. "I'm not sure of how it all goes, but I think I have a decent idea of what happened if what Mariposa told us is true. Which I...really hope it isn't. You'll understand in a minute."

Globgor braced himself. "What did Janna do?"

"Well, first you gotta have the context," Meteora said. "So basically, she took us inside, we sat down, chatted for a while, and then she took us to our rooms and locked us in. The next morning, Mariposa hugged her but managed to steal the keys to the room in doing so, which allowed her to leave and check out the place while me and Jenkins stayed behind."

"Wait, Jenkins just _let _her go off like that?" Globgor asked. "Into the depths of the creepy mountain base filled with dozens of homicidal priests?"

"Yeah…" Meteora said sheepishly. "But for good reason. Mariposa had proven herself before, and Jenkins was confident that she could handle it. He trusts us enough to let us things by ourselves...most of the time. But anyways, she ran off and started looking around for stuff. Anything suspicious or out of place."

"I think that Janna being the leader of a cult that murders people on sight is already out of place," Globgor said, before looking away. "She's always been weird and I've frankly been worried about leaving her with you and Mariposa sometimes, but I never thought that she was capable of something like _this_."

"Fifteen years can really change a person," Meteora whispered, before slyly smirking. "I take it you're not going to let her babysit us anymore, huh?"

Globgor let out a "pft" sound. "Definitely not. Or at least not until I talk with her parents and see if they could somehow test her current mental state. See if she's hiding anything sinister that we don't know about."

"Speaking of hiding things…" Meteora said. "Eventually Mariposa found a room hidden at the end of a hallway with no lights, and she found a bunch of skeletons inside it. I never saw it myself, thank level five, because according to her they were in a pile so tall it almost reached the ceiling. She found where Janna dumped all her lackeys victims after they died."

"Oh my Mewni..." Globgor exclaimed. "Also, what? Thank level five? What's that all about?"

"Oh right, you probably don't know about the five levels of beings," Meteora said. "Sorry, it's a bit of a habit. I don't say "god" anymore, instead, I say "level five" because the fifth level being is technically god. I said it once by accident, and I just...didn't stop."

"...That raises a lot of questions." Globgor replied. "What are the five levels of beings?"

"That's...we can talk about it later," Meteora said. "When we get to the part with the Voice and the communication spell and my butterfly form and all that."

"..."

"..."

Globgor ran a hand over his head again. "Jeez, and I thought I had a crazy childhood…"

"I wouldn't say crazy. More...psychotic." Meteora said sheepishly. "But yeah. There is a _lot _left to discuss. I mean, with us talking about Janna right now, we literally just skipped over _fifteen years_. Remember, this all happened only a few months ago. Although I will admit...those few months have been the most eventful."

"I take it that most of it was pretty repetitive and boring then?"

"Yup. Good thing the story started when all the interesting stuff started to happen." Meteora chuckled. "But anyway, back to what Mariposa found. So, she found a bunch of skeletons. But what was _really _heartbreaking...was that the story was partially true."

"What do you mean?"

"All the kids from the school," Meteora said. "She did bring them with her."

"And…you found out that she turned them all into the murder priests?" Globgor asked. "What does this have to do with a room...of...skeletons." His face dropped as realization struck. "Oh no…"

"That was our reaction as well," Meteora said. "Those bones weren't the only things there. Mari also found a pile of backpacks, evidently belonging to those kids. Probably brought them and packed them full of supplies when the bombs dropped, and...I guess Janna kept them as trophies. It was totally sick."

Globgor evidently agreed with this statement, looking like he was about to throw up. And for a second, Meteora almost thought she saw a tear in his eyes.

"She...killed them?" He asked softly. "All those children...she just killed them and stacked their bags in a pile like that? Why? Why would she…?"

"Some people suck," Meteora said. "But honestly, I have no idea. We learned later she had magic, probably dark magic considering how obsessed she is with that kind of stuff, so I don't think it's a stretch to say that it might have corrupted her. We have no idea _where _she got this magic, but she has it and I'm betting she killed them with it."

"...I am never letting her near you ever again. Both you, and baby you." Globgor grumbled. "Unless it's proven for a _fact _that she's not like that inside, she's not going anywhere near you two. Even if the magic corrupted her, there still should have been something left. Magic like that is powerful in terms of manipulation, but unless she was literally drowning in it at all times then she shouldn't have been pushed to do something like that. The urge has to be in there somewhere. That magic just brought it out."

"So...you're saying our now former babysitter was secretly a child murderer this whole time?" Meteora asked, raising both of her eyebrows. "Well, that sucks. And is contradictory to what I found when I went through the Voice's memories. _Really _hoped she wasn't evil from the beginning, but I guess not. Just when you think you know a person…"

"Do you even know that many people?"

"No," Meteora said. "Just a saying that I heard Jenkins use after our encounter with her."

"Your encounter…" Globgor echoed, before wiping both of his eyes. "Moving on. What happened after that?"

"_Nothing good_." Meteora scoffed. "Me and Jenkins had tied Janna up and when Mariposa came back she gave us the news, but then Janna escaped and blasted us with a spell. Or tried to, at least. It blew a hole in the wall that allowed us to get away, right after Jenkins threw a chair at her."

"And that's when you discovered magic still existed." Globgor surmised.

"In one of the worst ways possible," Meteora said, rolling her eyes. "But thankfully, we managed to elude her and her army and make it through the mountain pass. We had to kill quite a few people to do so, but nothing we couldn't handle."

"If you say so," Globgor said. "But I take it she didn't leave you alone after that. You did say that you encountered her more than once."

"Technically, we only ever encountered her twice, but yeah," Meteora confirmed. "She was pissed at the fact that we managed to get away. Afterwards, we started heading up the mountain as fast as we could, although none of us really said anything to each other. I think we were all just contemplating what we just witnessed, and I personally was thinking about how if _she _had magic, if I could use it as well. That was what interested me the most."

"And you figured out eventually, it seems." Globgor pointed out.

Meteora blew some hair out of her face and started twirling it again. "Not without a cost. Trust me, I got used to it eventually, but it was pure hell at first. I was constantly tired, the spells were so hard to concentrate on sometimes that I could barely cast anything, and then there was that time that I thought I was going to accidentally blow myself and Jenkins up because I got a little _too _curious…"

"That's magic for you," Globgor said. "Either you're good at it, or you just accidentally blow stuff up with every other spell. Eclipsa told me she was like that once. As were a lot of the other queens." He grinned. "I'm glad you didn't inherit _that _part of your mother's genes. At least...I think. How good are you with magic?"

"_Very," _Meteora said. "I mean, I wouldn't call myself a master, but I've gotten pretty skilled at it. I know a decent amount of spells, I can summon my butterfly form, and I can even...even..."

Meteora stopped herself before she said "travel through time", not wanting a sudden reveal to be how _that _tidbit of information came out. Mostly because they were already focusing on too many topics at once and _that _one would open up like, another fifty. So she simply hesitated for a moment before a new thought sprung up and took its place.

"...cook with it." She said, which wasn't true but something she was sure she could learn eventually. "So yeah. I know a lot about magic stuff."

"Can you show me?" Globgor asked.

"Show...you?"

"Yeah. Show me." He repeated. "It's fine if you don't want to, but seeing you talk about this, all proud of it like it's your greatest achievement...I kinda want to see what you're capable of. I already know about the light spell that you cast against our guards…"

Meteora shifted in her seat.

"...but is there another thing you think you could show me?"

"Um…" Meteora hummed. Was there_...actually _something she could safely show him? Not really, considering that she had to keep her magic usage down due to the whole "spell slowly trying to kill her and other magic being the only thing holding it back". That was a bit of a damper on things like this, but the Voice's plan _was_ to tell the whole truth. If she was going to be staying in this timeline for a while, then it'd be best for her parents to know now and not later when she suddenly collapsed on the floor from a heart attack.

"I can't." She said. "I'm trying to avoid using magic right now. If I use too much at a time, it's dangerous."

"Ah, no worries," Globgor said. "I know all about that. Using too much magic at once or any at all for some people can leave them pretty exhausted, to the point where it can get problematic. And since I don't think either of us want you falling asleep right now, I-"

"It's more than that," Meteora said. "It's not just the exhaustion. I'm on...borrowed time, you could say."

"Borrowed time?" Globgor asked, his voice sparking up in nervousness/fear. "What's wrong? Are you okay? You're not...dying, are you?" The last word he said made his voice crack, and for a second Meteora almost reconsidered telling him all of this. But she was too far in now, and there was no way she could play this off as any kind of joke.

"I…" She started. "It's complicated. For starters, I used a spell to get here to the past."

"Like...a time-traveling spell?"

"Pretty much," Meteora said, slightly irked that _this _was how that was coming out, five seconds after she stopped herself from telling him. Still better than blurting it, however. "I found out one day that there was a spell I could use to time-travel. So I wanted to try it out. However, the Voice, which like I told you, you'll learn more about later, told me that I can't stay in the past for long. The more powerful a spell is, the greater toll it exerts on my body. This means the greater the power, the more risk there is that I'll die. And the traveling spell is _so _powerful...that I could only stay in the past for about five seconds before all my energy is used up and it kills me."

"..."

"..."

"Uh…" Globgor said, after a waiting period of five seconds. "But you're not-"

"Dead, I know," Meteora whispered. "But I think I screwed things up, including how the spell worked. You see, while I was trying to cast it, I kept failing over and over again. Eventually, I got _super _mad...for some reason, and started yelling about how I want to go to the past _now_. And that worked for some reason. I was surrounded by golden light, and then I woke up fifteen years before then."

"Okay..." Globgor muttered. "But how does this explain why you're still alive? Even if someone traveled back through sheer force of anger, the effects of the magic drain should still be the same. Eclipsa's taught me enough about how magic worked...or works, I guess, to give me an idea of how it all happens. And one of the things I know is that emotions don't affect that part of the spell. It remains the same unless that person altered the fabric of reality itself to change how the rules worked."

"Well…"

"_You didn't change how the rules work." _The Voice chimed in. "_Not even me at my full power was strong enough to do that."_

"...I know, I wasn't about to say that, I was about to tell him about the whole magic barrier about my heart thing." Meteora mumbled, before turning her attention back to her father. "I was getting to that." She said. "You see, I found out that the magic in my body entered a sort of failsafe mode when it realized that I was dying. Since the magic is apparently...semi-sentient, it did this to protect itself so it wasn't destroyed. The spell is still actively trying to kill me, so the magic I have left is feeding scraps of itself at a time to stop it and keep it away from my heart."

Globgor paused and took this all in. "So...the magic in your body...that you used to cast the spell...is protecting you from itself...with that _same _magic."

"Not itself," Meteora said. "The spell and the magic are two different things I think. The magic is semi-sentient, while the spell is fully sentient, to the point of being considered a separate living being. The spell was just created from the magic, but once it was, it split off to do its purpose and…live a life of its own I guess. Did I...get everything down? Is that it?" She asked.

"_Yep. That's pretty much it." _The Voice confirmed. "_I mean it's a bit more complex than that at some parts, but yeah. That's the basics of the whole thing."_

Meteora nodded. "And...there's your explanation. Or part of it. So what I meant by "I'm living in borrowed time" earlier was that the magic won't be able to hold the spell off forever. Eventually, it'll start breaking through and gradually make me weaker by the day until I die. I think I have...maybe a month or two at the most until this happens. But the problem is that I need to get back to the present as soon as possible, because eventually I'll get too weak to cast any spells and I'll just be trapped here, waiting for a death that I can't prevent."

Globgor stood up and looked like he was struggling to find something to say. "E-excuse me for a moment." He finally choked out, as without saying another word he quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him with a satisfying _click_.

"..."

"_Nice one."_

"Hey, it was your idea to tell him the truth." Meteora pointed out. "This one is on you just as much as it's one me."

"_Maybe, but I didn't say "tell him everything at once". You should have worked your way up to the fact that you're going to die in a few months if we can't come up with a proper solution." _The Voice said. "_But thank level five that you didn't tell your fate could be sealed at literally any moment, when you start getting too weak to do anything…"_

"Yeah, I know. _That _little mess could occur at any time. You already told me." Meteora said. "But now what? I'm assuming he's going off to cry somewhere since I'm going to be a corpse if we don't figure something out, so what should we do in the meanwhile?"

"_Nothing." _The Voice recommended. "_What else can we do? We shouldn't be doing any magic. We can't leave this place unless you want your parents to freak out even more. And don't even think about falling asleep and asking me to show you more of your memories so we can solve all those mysteries that we have been bombarded with." _It said. "_I need to take a break. I've been doing that for the past hour, and I still don't know sh-"_

"I meant...if we should try to get something to eat, or maybe get something to drink," Meteora said. "Not any of that."

"_Oh." _The Voice said. "_Well…that hot chocolate is probably cold by now, so I guess you can drink that. Are you hungry though? I'm sure your parents would be happy to oblige if you asked for something…"_

"Definitely," Meteora said, getting up and walking over to the cup of hot chocolate, looking exactly the same minus the steam coming out of it. "I feel like it's been days I've eaten anything. The last meal I had was that bowl of soup Ery gave me, and while it was good, admittedly, it wasn't that filling. I could probably eat a full plate of food right now."

"_Why didn't you ask for some food earlier then?"_

"We were talking about stuff with my parents, and I felt like it was rude to ask for food in the middle of it," Meteora replied.

"_But it wasn't rude to ask for a shower?"_

"Hey, they were the ones who requested I take one," Meteora said, picking up the cup and drinking some of the liquid in it. As expected, it was now rather cold, although that hadn't gotten rid of any of the taste. "They said I smelled, and I got the hint."

"_Well, at least you're clean now." _The Voice said. "_But whatever. If you want something to eat, just wait until either Eclipsa or Globgor comes back and ask. Like I said, we shouldn't go running off to find new adventures. We have enough right here in this room."_

"If you say so…" Meteora mumbled, clutching the cup tightly in her hands. She walked over to the one window in the room and fiddled with the latch, managing to open it a second later. The night air blew in with a sudden chill, causing some bit of her hair to fly into her face. Meteora shook her head and flung it out of the way, before taking the opportunity to look down at the town. (And also grimacing at how high up the window was. She was suddenly very glad that her plan to jump out of it hadn't come to pass.)

It looked the same way that she had seen it earlier, a million little candles lighting up at once. But unlike last time, she felt like she had the opportunity to take it in and observe it all rather than briefly glance at it and then look away. She briefly wondered how the Monster Temple looked from down there. Was the light from the room she was standing in the only one that was turned on? Was most of it just some dark tower? Could anyone even see her from down there? Wondering what the heck this random teenage girl was doing standing so dangerously close to an open window like that?

Probably, but _that's _not what she was thinking about. She wasn't thinking of anything. She was just...watching. Her eyes darted from building to building, person to person, silently (and frankly, creepily) looking at them and then moving on to the next. She did this a for a few minutes, until-

"Hello!"

Meteora nearly jumped out of her shoes and almost dropped her cup at the sudden voice from below her, which had completely interrupted her zen-like observation of the town. After the initial shock wore off and her heart stopped beating in her ears, she sighed and set the cup down on the window sill, before peering over it to see who had yelled at her.

A couple of stories down, in a small but tight group, were three frog-like monsters, each of them holding baseball bats and wearing caps that had some odd logo on them. They all had gigantic identical smiles on, to the point where it was almost comical. Meteora raised an eyebrow at the trio, getting the feeling that she had seen these monsters before but couldn't remember where.

"Uhh...hi." She responded. "Who are you? And...what are you doing yelling at me?"

"Oh, sorry if I scared you! I was just curious about what _you _were doing! So I guess I could be asking you the same question!" One of them responded, seemingly the same one who had yelled at her in the first place. "But as for the first one, my name is Katrina, and these are my siblings."

'Oh.' Meteora thought, her eyes widening. 'Katrina. That frog monster we met back at the Lucitor castle. One of Buff Frog's kids. The same person that apparently...oh boy. Lost more than half of her siblings to radiation.'

Meteora sucked in a breath. "That's uh…a nice name. Mine is..._Mari_. Yeah"

"Your name is Mari?" Katrina asked, tilting her head. Meteora felt a pang of fear for a second, worried that the child knew she was lying, but a second later Katrina's grin returned, the same as it had been before. "Well, that's a nice name too! I feel like I've heard it before…"

"Uh, well, where I come from it's a really common name!" Meteora said, thinking quickly. "So you might have met someone from there before."

"Really? Where are you from?" Katrina asked.

"Oh...I'm from…"

"_The Jaggy Kingdom."_

"...The Jaggy Kingdom." Meteora said with uncertainty. "I'm just visiting the Monster Temple for the night as an...ambassador of sorts, and Eclipsa was kind enough to let me stay to show me the hospitality she had!"

"The Jaggy Kingdom? That's really cool! I don't think I've ever met anyone from there!" Katrina exclaimed, and for a second Meteora almost thought she saw the frog's eyes literally light up. "Although you seem kind of young to be an ambassador…"

"The Jaggy Kingdom does all its things at a very young age," Meteora claimed. "They say children are the future, therefore children start _making_ the future for them and everyone else as soon as possible. I started training for this position when I was five years old."

"_Five years old?!" _Katrina echoed, while her siblings produced equally shocked expressions. "That must have been some childhood! What did you even do for fun?"

"...Visit other kingdoms. Travel the world. Wander around and try to make friends. That kind of stuff." Meteora said, which technically was only a partial lie. "It wasn't _that _fun of a childhood, but I think it taught me what I needed to know. So now I'm here, the main ambassador for my kingdom, doing everything they need me to!"

"That sounds like an important job."

"It is." Meteora agreed. "It's my job to prevent wars from breaking out and the end of what world from arriving, so yeah. Important is a good word for it."

Katrina giggled. "End of the world." She guffawed. "No offense, but I don't think we need your help to stop that from happening. Things are really improving around here! I heard that the kingdoms are at peace, all the Earth countries are content and are going to allow us to stay, and a good deal of all the prejudice towards monsters has been wiped out! My dad thinks that we could be rid of it in maybe a year or so, and then we can work on getting rid of racism _outside _of the capital as well!" She smiled so widely that it was almost from ear to ear, and for a moment Meteora wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her. "Unless we screw things up all of a sudden, I don't think the apocalypse is coming anytime soon."

"_Oh, that hurts." _The Voice said.

"_Shut up_," Meteora growled, before turning her attention back to the frog-monster. "Well...that's nice!" She said. "Although I think a bit of that is exaggerated, it's nice to see the citizens so enthusiastic about things getting better! But uh...I have to go now! So if I ever see you on the street, I'll make sure to say hi!

"Oh...do you have to say bye already?" Katrina asked sadly. "I was kinda hoping we could talk more. It's only been like...two minutes."

"Yes..." Meteora replied, who honestly _didn't _want to keep talking after the whole apocalypse thing. "I've got some...ambassador business to attend to. But it was nice talking to you. I hope to see you and your siblings again."

"Well...okay," Katrina said, before grinning again. "I'll see you around then Mari!"

She waved goodbye, as did her siblings. The three of them then started to walk away, but Meteora suddenly felt an urge to call out to them.

"H-hey! Wait!" She shouted, causing the trio to stop and look at her.

"What is it?" Katrina asked. "You want to talk more?"

"No...you...you shouldn't…" Meteora sighed. "It's nothing. Nevermind. Sorry."

"Umm...okay," Katrina said, clearly confused. "Bye. For real this time!"

And with that, she and the other two frog children strolled away and were soon out of sight like they had never even been there to begin with. Meteora watched them go and then slid down the windowsill with a groan, burying her face in her hands.

"_What was that last part all about?" _The Voice queried. "_Were...were you about to tell her that-"_

"I don't know," Meteora said. "I don't know what I was about to do there. But when I looked at them just leaving like that...carefree and happy...I couldn't help but think about what Mariposa told me. About how most of Katrina's siblings died from the radiation. I thought...maybe if I could somehow warn them...if we fail in the end…"

"_It wouldn't have made a difference." _The Voice claimed. "_If anything, they'd have spread what you told them to the masses, and then there would've mass panic all across the world. People will believe anything when it comes to fear. Informing Katrina and the other two about the apocalypse would do more harm than good. I'm sorry, but that is the plain truth."_

"But...but they're just _children!" _Meteora protested. "I saw Katrina back at the Lucitor castle. She was all grown up. But even then, she still looked like a child when I met her eyes. It was...almost something to admire, the fact that she still clung to all that hope."

"_A facade I'm sure, and nothing more." _The Voice said. "_Nobody goes through what she went through and comes out still acting like a child. It's likely an act fabricated to keep herself sane."_

"That just strengthens my point," Meteora said. "I don't want them to lose that joy and then be forced to fake it later! I mean, god!" She exclaimed. "The odds are that at least _one _of the kids we just saw her with is gonna end up dead if the bombs drop! You saw them just now! You see their faces! You can't say we should just sit here and let that happen!"

"_We are not going to do that, remember?" _The Voice said. "_We are going to stop the apocalypse. We are going to stop Seth. And then we are going back to our timeline and fixing everything there. Getting that stupid boulder out of the way of the portal, killing Drosid and Janna, and then reaching that settlement. Yes, we will be forced through more of that hell in the end, but the plan, at the moment, is not to let this timeline burn! That is why we told your parents about armageddon, yes?! To prevent it from happening?!"_

"..."

"_..."_

"But…" Meteora whispered. "What if we fail? What if we don't prevent anything and Seth wins again? What if...they all die because we had a chance to warn them and didn't take it? They could move somewhere. They could get away from this. Somewhere safe-"

"_There is nowhere "safe" Meteora." _The Voice said. "_Seth launched hundreds if not thousands of nukes into all four hemispheres. When the initial bombs drop and the radiation levels rise, there will not be a single place on Earth that is "safe". Only safer. And besides, you said it yourself. They're just children. Even if they left Echo Creek and fled to the countryside or somewhere where the bombs and radiation will only slightly scorch, those areas will quickly be flocked by hundreds of ravenous people, willing to do anything to survive. Katrina may know how to swing a knife fifteen years from now, but in the present? She doesn't know anything about combat." _The Voice stated. "_The only member of her family who does is Buff Frog, and he won't last long if he tries to protect every single one of them simultaneously. He will fall, and then they will fall beneath the blade or bullets of whoever else survived."_

"…"

"_You can't save everyone Meteora. You stopped trying a long time ago."_

"I never tried in the first place. Only now, and even then it's kind of a stretch when it comes to "everyone". " She said softly. "I know. I get it. But to just sit here and do _nothing..._while they _die _like that if we don't succeed for some reason...I can't-"

"_How many others?"_

"What?"

"_How many others do you think died like her siblings did in the future?" _The Voice asked. "_How many children like her perished the first day? From the bombs? From the radiation? From the scavengers? When the apocalypse arrives Meteora, the young are those who die first. Why do you think you've seen so few children or even teenagers like you? Or hell, even young adults, who were children when all this started? Why do you think they are so far and few between when it comes to people?"_

"Because...they're the weakest," Meteora said, stating the obvious. "The first to fall. The easiest to kill."

"_Exactly." _The Voice said. "_You were lucky. Jenkins never abandoned you because he had hope your parents were still alive, that he'd find them, and also because he grew to genuinely care for you as the years went by. But most others weren't so lucky. Like...babies. Helpless, little children incapable of doing anything. Children that didn't learn anything." _It explained. "_You were also lucky in that regard. Jenkins knew a lot. He knew what to teach you and how. But other parents, the ones whose kids survived at least, didn't know any of that. They don't know how to fight. They don't know how to sneak around. They don't know how to kill someone without thinking of them as an actual person, so how the hell could they possibly teach those skills to their offspring?"_

"...They can't." Meteora breathed, the words barely leaving her mouth.

"_And you finally get it." _The Voice said. "_They can't survive. It's the plain truth. No matter how hard they try, no matter how many people they kill, most of them will fall in the end. Most adults didn't last a few weeks. Any children they had were either left behind, cannibalized, or killed by something else entirely. And even if they outlived their parents, they'd never made it out there alone. That is the fate of Katrina and her family. If you send them out there, that's what will happen in the end."_

"But...what about that family we came across once?" Meteora asked. "The ones who tried to attack us and then Mariposa was forced to...bash a person's head in…" She said softly. "But what about them? They had survived! They knew how to fight!"

"_Because they were ruthless, like you." _The Voice said. "_The boy who Mariposa killed was just as willing to kill her. His parents taught him to be a murderer, so he became one. The same goes for his sister. But most parents and children are not like them, as I was saying. They will avoid danger or try to negotiate with it. And obviously, stuff like that doesn't work nowadays when it comes to scavengers who have no interest in joining any kind of group and see everyone as an enemy."_

"So then...what's your big point here?" Meteora asked. "That I shouldn't bother telling Katrina and warning her and her siblings, because if I do and they move somewhere else they'll die anyways?"

"_Yes. That is precisely it." _The Voice said. "_If we do fail, there is nothing we can do. We-"_

"Wait!" Meteora shouted. "Holy...I...I...can't believe it. How could we be so stupid?! There _is _something we can do!"

"_Really? What?"_

"The Underworld portal!" Meteora said. "Where the future Katrina and what remains of her family live! In the Lucitor castle! We can tell them and they can go down there in case anything goes wrong before the bombs drop! There's no radiation or stuff like that! We can save hundreds if not thousands of people that way!"

"_...I can't believe I completely forgot about that." _The Voice said. "_But...there is still a problem, as usual. Drosid. Who, you know, hates every creature that isn't from the Underworld. When he gets word of that, he'll get the other kingdoms that agree with him and wipe them all out before anyone has a chance to react. There's no winning a fight like that. And don't say you can help with your magic, because by then you'll be long dead of magic exhaustion."_

Meteora huffed. "You know, maybe if you were more-"

"Meteora?" Eclipsa's voice rang out, directly from behind the door. She jumped and quickly stood back up, almost knocking over her cup a second time in the process. "Are you still in there?"

"...Ummm...yeah." Meteora said, her face flushing from embarrassment. "Dad left a few minutes ago, but I'm still here."

"Yes, I saw him rush into the bathroom. I'm not sure what that was about, but I think I'll have to check up on him soon." Eclipsa said. "However, there's a visitor here for you, and I thought it'd be best to tell you before they just barged in."

"Who's the visitor?"

Eclipsa didn't answer, and instead, the door swung open and revealed a person that made Meteora tense up so much that several of her joints let out a loud popping sound. There, standing in front of her, was a person that she could recognize from a mile away, even if they were fifteen years younger. And frankly much less battle-worn.

'Oh…'

"_...Shit."_

"Hello, Meteora." Old Jenkins said. "It's nice to finally meet you…"

**End chapter 40**

**A/N: Yup, that's going to be a bit of a mess. But we finally got the storytime that Meteora has promised to give them, even if Eclipsa wasn't there for most of it. The next chapter will be going back to Mariposa and what she and regular Jenkins are doing, but we may also be getting the interaction between Old Meteora and Jenkins, depending on how things go.**

**But as always, thank you for reading please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	41. Chapter 41: A Snap of the Fingers

**The Tale of Three **

**Chapter 41**

**A Snap of the Fingers**

Mariposa was lost again.

But not as badly as she used to be.

Because at least now she had some light. A torch in her hand, one that seemed to have an odd ability to burn indefinitely, lit the way she traversed through the ruins of the dungeon of Butterfly castle, every step taking her further and further into the darkness. Even with the flame, it seemed to choke out everything, every semblance of luminosity, every gulp of air, and Mariposa prayed that her torch wouldn't go out, fearing that if it did she'd never find her way out of this place.

But even with the light, that was a definite possibility. Especially since she was moving at approximately 1 MPH, limping almost. The most severe injuries she had sustained in the "fight" with the lint creature had been healed, such as her broken spine and the other broken bones, but the scrapes, bruises, acid burns, and general aches remained, making her feel like a baseball that had just been smacked into the outfield.

But she tried not to think about it. After the fight was done, Mariposa had vanquished the lint creature from her mind, not wanting to think about it ever again. The hope it had...the way it tried to make friends...the stories it had told...only to betray her in the end. It hurt more than the aches ever could. And now it was all burned away, except for an exceptionally tiny piece. But who knows? Maybe that thing would somehow grow again. Maybe it could eventually get back to the size she had found it in. If there were still spare clothes lying around this place, latching on to those would be its only option.

But again, Mariposa wasn't thinking about any of this. She was more focused on what had happened after/technically before her encounter with the creature. That being the god that spoke with her and slapped her multiple times. (Why hadn't it just talked to her then?) The riddle-esque way it spoke, it's strange obsession with profanity which seemed to vanish as time went on, and the way it talked about Meteora. A threat that she and Jenkins would have to deal with that revolved around her sister and the Voice. Jenkins would _love _to hear that. He was looking for any excuse to call out the entity as evil, and this was exactly the kind of fuel he needed to light a fire and burn it out of Meteora's mind.

The first step would be finding him of course. No doubt he was freaking out in a way that she had never even seen before. (Well, okay, that's not true.) But once he saw her, she'd tell him everything. Nothing about the creature, just that she had a meeting with that god being and that they should find Meteora as fast as possible, because they were all in great danger. And if he asked why she was all beat up, she could simply say that she fell into a hole.

'Find Meteora as fast as possible.' She thought. 'Yeah. Great plan, me. What do you think he's been doing this whole time? What do you think _you _were doing...half a day ago? Something like that?' Mariposa shrugged. 'Doesn't matter how long I was looking for her before. The main objective now is still to find her no matter what. If some shit is about to go down that involves her and the Voice and the interest of a _literal_ god, then it should take precedence. But if only…' Mariposa growled and looked at her surroundings, seeing only more stone walls that looked identical to the ones she had seen in the past thirty minutes.

"I COULD FIND MY WAY OUT OF THIS FUCKING PLACE!" She shouted, her voice echoing off the walls like she was on top of a mountain. After the last echo had died away, the girl groaned and moved forward again, dragging her feet across the ground.

'What have I learned today?' She asked herself. 'Whenever it's dark and you can't see anything, just stay in place and wait until morning so you don't end up in a _dungeon_ where no natural light could ever reach! Oh, and not to give away sensitive information regarding your family to voices in the dark. They could potentially be giant lint monsters that want to eat you because of something your brother did.'

Mariposa huffed as her thoughts drifted back over to Marco, who she partially blamed for this whole mess. If she ever got to him like they had planned, then the first thing she was going to do before hugging him was slapping him five times, one for each burn she received. And no, he didn't get the privilege of knowing what it was all about until much later. Mostly because it'd be days before they got to that part of the story if they decided to retell..._most _of it to the survivors, but also on the grounds that she wanted to.

She then wondered just how much of the Creature's story had been true. It had claimed that he attacked it unprovoked, and it had only defended itself. Mariposa had countered this by saying that he was likely ordered to by Lavabo or whatever that "Knight of the wash's" name was, but the Creature didn't want to hear it. So that got her thinking. Just how truthful had _Jenkins_ been about everyone to this point? His stories did tend to be exaggerated at times. She had a feeling that the "grand final battle" he described between the Solarian warriors and all the armies of Mewni was nothing more than a light skirmish, considering he hadn't even _been _there at the time and also because it contradicted with a few of his earlier stories, which they noted but didn't point out.

'They were all heroes…' Mariposa thought. 'When it comes to direct family members at least. Marco, my mom and dad, Eclipsa, Globgor, he has nothing bad to say about them. Well, okay, he did say Globgor was evil like three hundred years ago, but that he's a reformed person now. And yet, when it comes to most other people, like Star and Moon and even that Buff Frog guy, he had a _lot _of negative stories about them. To the point where it almost got ridiculous. I wonder...She bit her lip as a rather unpleasant thought came to mind. "...Did he soften the stories of our family members to raise our hopes?'

Mariposa almost stopped where she was at the idea of this happening, an idea that she could actually see as true. Jenkins had rarely sugar-coated the stories of the past, since the things they already experienced were much worse, but although Mariposa would never admit it, every time he told them direct stories about their families, something always seemed...off. Like he was hiding some terrible truth. Because those stories were the ones with the most holes. The ones with the plot drives that made the least sense. They were the weirdest ones. Which usually made them all the more enjoyable, but _that _just added more fuel onto the fire. Did Jenkins tell them in a way so that they _were _enjoyable, or was that how it all happened, and some of the past adventures of Star, Marco, and the rest really were just crazy and stupid?

Mariposa had her eyes set on the former. Because it made sense after all. Nobody wanted to know about all the terrible things that their parents did. Because those kinds of people were the ones to look up to. To admire. To follow in their footsteps. And if her parents weren't as good as she thought they were...then the levels of disappointment would skyrocket more than ever before.

But Mariposa wasn't too worried about that. She knew parents were good, average people. They hadn't gone on adventures like the rest. They tried to stay out of any magic business unless it threatened them or Marco. A clear opposite to Meteora's parents, whose lives were constantly filled with danger and magic and death and whatnot. Mariposa was actually _grateful _to discover that her parents were nothing but normal people, because for some reason...she didn't want some hero. She didn't want some great people that had accomplished hundreds of wondrous deeds and were the strongest warriors in all existence. She didn't want any of that. What she _really _wanted...was two people that lived with her and cared for her and made sure she was okay. And sure, she kinda already had that with Meteora and Jenkins, but she knew that it wasn't the same as having real parents. Nothing out _here _ever would be.

But in the end, that little dream of living a normal life was nothing more than wishful thinking, and she knew it. They were missing after all. They weren't at the settlement, and if they were still alive, traversing the wasteland was what they were doing. Mariposa figured that they _could _have stumbled upon another settlement, and lived there, but again, wishful thinking. Because her gratefulness for having normal parents also meant that they weren't very...ready for life in the apocalypse, so to speak. Sure, they might have secretly been hiding a ferocious side underneath, ready to take on whatever came their way, but until that was confirmed, Mariposa knew that those kinds of people (cough, her parents, cough) would not survive in the wasteland without help and luck. A _lot _of help and luck.

But speaking of luck…

Mariposa's eyes widened as she finally caught sight of some light that wasn't being emitted from the torch. A small, thin white line in the distance, sticking out like a stain against the dark. She ran towards it as fast as she could for about five seconds, until her legs reminded her of the agony that they had just been put through, forcing her to slow down.

And after three minutes of boring, tedious, and painstakingly slow walking, Mariposa finally reached the line. It was coming from what she presumed was the ceiling, roughly ten feet in the air. Far too high to jump. She looked around and waved the torch frantically until she spotted the wall to her right, which had several stones conveniently sticking out like handholds. She walked over, braced herself for the pain that would surely come from climbing these, set the thin end of the torch uncomfortably between her teeth (forcing her to tilt her head to the left), and began to work her way up the wall.

It was surprisingly easy, minus the pain, with how misplaced the stones all were. It was no more difficult than climbing a ladder once she got the hang of it. In about a minute she had made it to the ceiling, the cold rock pressing against the top of her head. The thin crack that the light shined through was within reaching distance, but instead, she grabbed a good handhold, and with her other hand she took the torch and bashed its metal top against the ceiling, causing the crack to become a little wider. She hit it ten more times until it looked ready to fall in, so she drew her arm back, prayed that the entire ceiling wouldn't fall on top of her, and hit the now fist-shaped hole as hard as she could.

After that, there was an insanely loud cracking sound, like an avalanche made of rocks, followed by a cloud of dust, and Mariposa closed her eyes to shield them. She felt the wall shake and crumble slightly as the stones hit the ground, and she grit her teeth as they started feeling like they were going to fall out of her head. But once the cacophony of noise stopped she opened her eyes again, and now there was a hole the size of a small car, moonlight shining through and illuminating the area. She stared at it for a moment like it was the most beautiful thing in the world, before gulping and tossing the torch through the hole, where it landed with a distant _clang. _Then she took a deep breath, bent her knees, and jumped towards the opening, hooking both her hands on the very edge of it.

She yelped slightly as she felt herself starting to slip almost instantly, but after a few seconds of hanging, she started to pull herself up at a grueling pace, slowly reaching her fingers forward an inch at a time and grabbing new handholds that were nothing but pebbles sticking out of the rocks. It was much harder than she expected, especially with the pain, but Mariposa managed. Once she got everything above her waist out of the hole, the rest was a breeze as she lifted her left leg out of it, then her right, and with one final push she rolled away from the opening and onto the ground above.

And then she was out.

Mariposa lay in her back for a few moments, panting and catching her breath. The moonlight from above was shining directly into her eyes, but she didn't care. She was just happy to be out. Free from that place. A faint breeze flew across her face, alerting her to the fact that she was now outside. She groaned and turned her head to get an idea of where she was…

...only to be met with a skull two inches from her nose, staring at her with it's empty, void-like eye sockets. Her eyes widened as she shrieked and scrambled to her feet, desperately trying to get away. Her legs once again ached at the sudden speed, but she pushed past their complaints as she quickly backed away from the skull, revealing that it was connected to an entire skeleton. Her back hit a wall as the entire scene came into view, causing her to sigh in annoyance

"Oh, you son of a…" She started, before glancing around and realizing that she was in the courtyard of the castle. The place that had the piles of dozens of skeletons, which were a lot creepier now that it was nighttime. She cursed slightly, got to her feet with some difficulty, walked over to the skull, and kicked it out of sight, unhappy that the first thing she had been treated to after escaping from that hell was another one.

But after that little vent, she calmed herself and picked up the torch that she had thrown earlier, which was someone still lit. She wandered around for a moment until she found the entrance to the courtyard, and after carefully making sure at least the times that it _didn't _lead into the castle, she left and moved into the town, finally leaving it all behind.

"First things first." She said to herself, her voice sounding like thunder compared to the silence of the town. "Find Jenkins. Assuming he hasn't gone insane, we can then work on finding Meteora again. Should probably warn him about the stuff that god thing told me, as well the fact that there's not a giant hole in the courtyard. Bit of a hazard there…"

Mariposa's eyes then fell upon a particularly large structure which had just come into view, which was also one of the few buildings that remained standing. The former mayor's office. The last place she had seen Jenkins, and coincidentally the same building that she was going to check first while looking for him. She grinned and walked towards the imposing office, pushing the doors open with a bit of effort.

It looked about the same. Unfortunately, Jenkins wasn't the first thing she saw when she entered, but it was still nice to someplace that wasn't underground or made of featureless grey stones. At least this place actually had _color. _But Mariposa knew she wasn't there to admire the style of the whole thing. She huffed and started searching the building for him, eventually coming upon a meeting room. The same one that she and Meteora had discovered earlier, only to find it completely trashed, with all the chairs broken in half and the tables smashed to splinters.

But Jenkins was there, sitting in the corner of the room, on the floor with his arms crossed, fast asleep. Mariposa breathed a sigh of relief that he was still there, and looked like he was in relatively good condition. She felt an urge to go over and wake him up, but before she could her inner voice reminded her that it was still the middle of the night, and that it was something that could wait until morning.

So she walked over to the corner opposite to him, sat down, grabbed the remains of one of the cushion things that had once been part of a chair, placed it behind her head, and lay flat on the floor.

And no more than a second later, she drifted off. She slept without dreams, although after today, that was something she'd be sure to be grateful for.

* * *

Meteora was panicking inside.

Because there, standing in front of her, was this timeline's version of Jenkins. His younger appearance didn't look that different from his older one, despite it being a fifteen-year difference, so Meteora was able to recognize him in an instant. He was wearing some kind of uniform that had several metallic black plates armoring it, with a thin material covering everything else that had an odd hexagonal pattern. He was staring at her with a small and tight smile, although it didn't comfort Meteora in the slightest. Because it wasn't meant to be a comforting smile. It was the kind of smile a predator might make when they laid eyes on their prey.

And honestly, nothing _could_ comfort her right now. Because her brain was going into overdrive at the sight of him, and she was currently contemplating whether she should _really _jump out the window this time or just try to talk her way out of this.

She was _not _ready for this.

But jumping out the window was obviously not a good option for several reasons, so that only left the _second_ option. Something that Meteora started horribly, sounding very much like she was having a nervous breakdown.

"...Heeeeeey…" She said awkwardly. "It's...uh, nice to meet you too. How...are you?"

"I'm good, thanks." Old Jenkins said, stepping further into the room while Eclipsa followed closely. Behind her, Globgor appeared in the doorway, wiping his eyes with some kind of handkerchief. Meteora suddenly felt very small once all three of them entered, the trio looming over the girl like a pack of vultures. "But we're not here to talk about me. In fact, I think we should cut right to the chase, Meteora. Now, if what Eclipsa told me is correct, you're her daughter, only from fifteen years in the future. Correct?"

"Umm…"

"_Just tell him the truth like you did with your parents." _The Voice suggested, also in the same panicky voice she was currently using. "_We're caught in a corner here, and he will catch any lie we tell, no matter how small."_

"...Yesssss." Meteora said/hissed nervously. "That's the truth. I'm from the future."

"Ah." Old Jenkins said, smiling like he wasn't deterred by this in the slightest. He stuck out his hand, and Meteora stared at it like he was holding a grenade that just had its pin removed. "Well, again, it's nice to meet you."

"..."

"..."

Meteora gingerly took his hand and shook it three times, before withdrawing and resisting the urge to wipe it on something.

"Before we discuss anything else, what...are you going to do to me?" She asked. "You're not going to...imprison me, or torture me for information, or anything crazy like that, right?"

"On, definitely not." Old Jenkins said, before leaning in and whispering, his tone now deadly serious. "Unless, of course, you give me a reason to. So make sure to watch yourself, and don't try anything stupid."

Meteora gulped and nodded her head, before taking a step back towards the window. "That's great to hear." She said. "So now what? What's going to happen now?"

"That's simple." Old Jenkins said. "You'll be coming with me back to the base we have set up out of town. Just a precaution, of course, I want to make sure you don't have any malicious intent towards Earthni or its inhabitants, and also to see if your story is true or not. Once that's confirmed, we'll figure out what to do with you."

"Wait," Meteora protested. "What about the prison break? I'm sure my mom has told you about that. Shouldn't you be-"

"Trust me, that's already been taken care of." Old Jenkins said, giving her a grin. "Seth is _never _breaking out of there, giant monster or not. There's now so much firepower guarding that prison that they could hold off the full military efforts of the biggest and most powerful countries in the world for days. If we see anything, the first response will be a tidal wave of explosives, and it'll only escalate from there. Trust me..._nothing _is getting out of that prison."

"_Well, that's that problem taken care of." _The Voice said, although it could hide the skepticism in its tone.

"Maybe. Guess we can only see how it goes." Meteora whispered, before coughing and clearing her throat. "Okay, that's a relief. So are we leaving right now, or…?"

"Of course." Old Jenkins said. "Unless you want to use the bathroom first, which I recommend because the tests we'll be conducting on you will go _well_ into the night, and there'll be no breaks of any kind."

"Right…" Meteora said, before inching past him and her parents and then scurrying off into the darkness. The three of them watched her go in silence, until Eclipsa sighed and glared at Old Jenkins.

"What was that you whispered to her?" She asked. "She looked rather scared afterward."

"A warning. Just to make sure she gets the idea." Old Jenkins said. "Even if this _is _your daughter, you claim she had magic, and that already makes her an omega-level threat. Frankly, you two are lucky that I didn't come storming in here with a battalion of men, had them all electrocute her just to make sure she's too weak to try and escape later, and then knock her down with a tranquilizer dart meant for elephants."

"If you had done that…" Globgor started.

"You'd _what?" _Old Jenkin asked, edging him on. Globgor hesitated for a moment before shutting his mouth, making Old Jenkins chuckle. "Exactly." He said. "You wouldn't do anything. That girl could easily be a mind-reading shapeshifter from another dimension that managed to get into your heads. We quarantine her, find out if she is who she says she is, and deal with it. Like I told you five seconds ago."

"And what if she _is _who she says she is?" Eclipsa asked. "What are you going to do then?"

"We keep her in a cell. Find out what she knows." Old Jenkins said. "We have no idea what she's capable of or what her true intentions are. Again, even if she is your daughter from the future, that doesn't mean she immediately gets to go free. Hell…" He scoffed and shook his head. "...she may _never_ if the government screwheads find out about this."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out." Old Jenkins replied. "It all depends on how things go. But in the meantime, I think we should discuss what she _already _told you." He turned to Globgor. "Anything interesting that could be of worth right now? Anything as important as the prison break of the fact that the apocalypse may be upon us?"

Despite the situation, Globgor smirked and looked him directly in the eye. "Yeah." He said. "In the future, apparently _you're _her foster father. You raised her for fifteen years along with the Diazes second kid, Mariposa. Just the three of you, living out there in a radioactive wasteland." He shrugged. "So you know, that's a thing."

For a second, Old Jenkins tilted his head at the Monster King like he was speaking in some obscure language, while Eclipsa, who had been totally oblivious to this information, simply looking between the two of them in shock.

"...Riggggghhht." Old Jenkins said, clearly not believing him. "This is no time for jokes Globgor. I expect better of you under circumstances such as these."

"It's not a joke," Globgor said. "Meteora told me herself. That's what happened."

"Hm. _Extra_ security for her then." Old Jenkins said. "At least until she can prove she didn't tell a lie. Which I very much doubt, because there is _no _universe out there where I see myself raising two children in the middle of the apocalypse."

"You and me both," Globgor said. "But that wasn't even the most shocking part."

"And that would be…?"

"Well, you'll just have to ask her yourse-"

Old Jenkins suddenly sneered at him furiously, his eyes narrowing into slits, making Globgor stop short and then stutter with his words. "Ah...I mean...the most shocking part is that Janna is evil in the future, and is also the leader of a magic cult that kills anyone who comes across them."

"..."

"..."

"_That's _the most surprising part?" Old Jenkins asked, unimpressed. Meanwhile, Eclipsa looked like she was ready to faint. "Seriously, if you told me one year ago that Janna would grow up to be the leader of an evil magic cult...I'd have believed you on the spot. I mean, why was _that _surprising to you? You know Janna. You know what she's like."

"_Because _her little gang has killed hundreds of people in the future, including children!" Globgor exclaimed. "And they piled all the bones in a room and stored the backpacks there like trophies! The person who did that in the future, is the same person who I've let babysit my daughter! The...present version of her."

Old Jenkins just nodded. "Well, you can't say that you didn't see that coming either. Janna was always a little unhinged. I suppose the apocalypse just brought out the very worst in her. Ah well…" He said. "Now where is your "daughter" anyways? It's been like five minutes since she left…"

Old Jenkins then pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and spoke into it, while Globgor tried to frantically wake up Eclipsa, who had slipped into unconsciousness somewhere around "stored the backpacks there like trophies".

"Fraus." Old Jenkins said unto the device. "You've been keeping an eye on Meteora, yes? Has she gotten out of the bathroom yet, or did she not even enter it in the first place?"

"No, she's in there, sir." A voice coming from the walkie-talkie said, speaking with a thick Italian accent. "Although I am hearing what sounds like frantic whispering coming from inside. I think she may be having a panic attack, or is just _regularly _freaking out, sir."

"Hm. Carry on them." Old Jenkins ordered. "But if you hear anything suspicious, make sure to tell me."

"Understood, sir," Fraus said, and with that, the line went dead. Old Jenkins shoved the device back in his pocket and turned back to Globgor, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"You sent someone to _spy _on her?" He asked incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Don't worry, they're not peeking into the bathroom." Old Jenkins said. "Just standing outside it in the shadows, listening in to make sure she's not planning anything or trying to escape blasting a hole through the wall."

"She's not going to try that," Globgor said, getting up after unsuccessfully trying to wake Eclipsa. "She may be weird and uncustomed to how the world works in the past, but she's not stupid. She's not going to try and escape, especially after that "warning" you gave her."

"I sincerely hope so." Old Jenkins said. "Because if she goes butterfly, then having to track her down will be...just plain annoying. We'd have to shoot her from the ground...and also make sure that it's non-lethal. Something that I'd rather not have to deal with tonight."

"Wait, how did you know that she can turn into her butterfly form?" Globgor asked. "Were you listening to our conversation in secret? D-did you bug the Temple or-"

"Relax Globby, I didn't do anything like that." Old Jenkins said. "I just _assumed _she could go butterfly. Although you just confirmed it, so thanks for that. Now we don't have to ask her. And...this either means that she is who she says she is, or a shapeshifter. We just narrowed it down to two options.

Globgor opened his mouth to speak but a sigh was all that came out, as if he had a thought but lost it. The Monster King then shook his head, picked up his wife bridal style, and then walked away, mumbling about all the way. He disappeared into the darkness of the Temple a second later, leaving Old Jenkins alone.

He then shook his head, sat down in one of the chairs, and propped his legs up on a nearby coffee table.

"This is going to be a _long _interrogation."

* * *

"We are screwed. We are _so _screwed."

"_No, we're not." _The Voice said, trying to calm down the Meteora, who was currently a frantic, sweaty mess. They had been in the bathroom for over ten minutes, and each one of those minutes had been exactly alike. Meteora hyperventilating with her words, and the Voice unsuccessfully trying to get her to stop. "_We just have to say the right things, and we'll get through this."_

"Are you crazy?! Did you hear him?" Meteora asked. "He clearly doesn't believe a single word of whatever my father told him. He's just _waiting _for us to mess up, and that's when he'll give the order for someone to snipe me."

"_I sincerely doubt that he has-"_

"Snipers on every rooftop?" Meteora finished. "No, trust me, he does. Hell, he literally told me himself in the future once. Pointed to a few buildings and said "that's where I had snipers positioned every day of the year, just in case a bloody riot broke out or someone tried to attack us. And then he pointed to a few more buildings, then a few _more _buildings, and eventually he had covered every single structure in town except the houses! So...yeah. They're there!"

"_I remember that conversation." _The Voice said. "_And I'm sure he was just messing with you. Even for Jenkins, that's overkill. And by the way, assuming this __**is**_ _true, why didn't you mention it earlier when you made plans to escape out the window? You think they'd be a pretty big concern…"_

"_Nothing _is overkill when it comes to him," Meteora said. "And as for your question, I wasn't worried about it because those snipers wouldn't know who I was. If they saw me, all they'd see is some monster-looking teenager going out for a night jog, which in reality would be me leaving as fast as possible."

"_It'd take about five seconds for your parents to radio Old Jenkins, him to give the orders to the snipers, and then them taking out both your knees." _The Voice pointed out. "_Also, I'm sure the people in that position have been trained to know the difference between a person trying to escape a place and person "out for a jog". Plus, no sensible person would jog in the clothes you're wearing. You'd look like an escapee from an insane asylum, which I'm sure they're trained to be on the lookout for as well."_

"...Then...god, I don't know!" Meteora exclaimed, before gripping the sides of the sink and staring at herself in the mirror. "The point of _all _of this is that whatever Old Jenkins has planned for us, we're not going to be able to get out of it. And I don't think my parents are going to be much help. He talked to them like they were just a bunch of flies waiting to be swatted. Which is a pretty stark contrast from the last time I saw him interact with them, in _your _memories! He said that they were one of the few people that he respects! But now he's treating them like trash here. What was up with that?"

"_Old Jenkins is a person of many personalities." _The Voice said. "_And I don't mean that he has DID or anything. He-"_

"DI what?" Meteora asked.

"_Dissociative...multiple personality disorder." _The Voice explained. "_It's not important. Listen. I was trying to say that Old Jenkins is the type of person who has a dozen switches attached to his brain. And each one flips when a new situation arises. The one that just flipped, where he disregards his feelings towards everyone else and focuses primarily on the situation and the best way to remedy it, is also the one where he's at his most unhinged."_

"If your hope by telling me this was to comfort me, then you achieved quite the opposite," Meteora complained. "Now is when he's at his _most _unhinged? I've seen him get mad in the future. That one time he completely blew up at Mariposa. And I can tell you that I do _not _want to ever be on the receiving end of an outburst like that."

"_I didn't say mad." _The Voice sighed. "_I said unhinged. He's not angry, more...worried in a dangerous way. He doesn't know what we're capable of besides the fact that we can do magic. And being ignorant of the situation, especially when it comes to magical beings, is something he hates. Old Jenkins is the kind of person who always has to be in control no matter what. I believe several...incidents in the early years of the E.D.F. led to this."_

"What kind of incidents?"

"_The bad kind." _The Voice replied. "_The ones where Earth almost lost. It's why he was so pissed when the worlds merged. Because this was something he didn't see coming, and did not and likely would never have full control over. He had to share it with the Mewmans and the monsters now."_

"Fine," Meteora said, taking a few deep breaths. "Then what's the best way for us to handle this without getting shot in the head for accidentally saying the wrong thing? Should I just explain the whole story again like I did with my dad, or are we going in another direction here?"

"_Another direction. Mostly because I'm positive Old Jenkins will hardly believe a word we say if we tell him the entire truth. He does not see himself as a father, as you mentioned earlier. If we go spouting off about how he takes care of you and Mariposa in the future, he'd laugh in your face and then probably torture us until we gave him what he considers to be the real answer."_

"I thought you said that he could instantly tell if we were lying or not," Meteora muttered. "Shouldn't they also enable him to tell if we're _not?"_

"_If people don't like the answer they're given, they might not believe it." _The Voice said. "_Jenkins is one of those people. If we start telling a story that he doesn't like, he won't think it's true. Probably, at least. But the point is that we have to be careful with what we say first. Work our way up to it like we tried to do with your parents. I'll guide you along the way."_

"But you said we were going to take a different direction," Meteora said, getting more confused by the second. "If working our way up to it is exactly what we did with my parents, then what-"

"_I meant we're going to do whatever he says and not just try to tell it in story format." _The Voice said. "_He's not going to want to hear it that way. He wants the truth. He doesn't want to know all the details at first. Only the most important parts. The prison break with Seth was one of those parts. I have a feeling that things like magic, what other people are like in the future, and what I am will constitute as well. Because we're going to get to me eventually, and there's no avoiding it."_

"I mean...that's basically what we talked about with my dad already," Meteora said. "Kinda went back and forth between a few things, but we'd just be repeating ourselves."

"_Do it anyway." _The Voice ordered. "_Repeat yourself. Repeat yourself as many times as you need to to make Old Jenkins think we're telling the truth. You can go far into the night, saying the same things over and over and over again and he might still not believe you. So we have to convince him. Otherwise, again, he'll torture us for information that doesn't exist."_

"Would he really do that?" Meteora asked nervously. "I'm just a freaking _teenager_. And I know that standards are a _lot _different in the past than in the future! Is he even..._allowed_ to do that? Aren't I still a...minor, I think it's called? Don't I have rights?"

"_Not here you don't. Old Jenkins and the E.D.F. control everything. The police, the military, the Air Force, the navy, even freaking park rangers!" _The Voice exclaimed. "_Any form of law or military enforcement is nothing compared to them. No police will come to save you even if it becomes public knowledge that you're being tortured. Not because it isn't illegal, but because nobody will __**want **__to save you. Attempted to oppose the E.D.F is a death sentence."_

"...This is sounding suspiciously like a totalitarian military state." Meteora whispered. "Jenkins told me that the E.D.F. controlled everything when it came right down to it, but I didn't expect something like _this_."

"_Umm...what did you think "controlled everything" meant?" _The Voice asked.

"I thought they did things a little more peacefully, is all!" Meteora said. "But now you're making it sound like they threw anyone in jail who didn't listen to them and were so constantly worried about threats that they interrogated anyone, no matter the age or what rights they had."

"_Like I told you. Incidents. Lots of people died, and Old Jenkins doesn't want that to happen again. __**Not **__doing things like that is what led to all those deaths, so of course, he sees it as a necessity."_

"What even are the "incidents"?" Meteora asked. "Like, specifics?"

"_Well, a decade or so ago, a bunch of monsters from another dimension that called themselves "The Brine"-_

"That's a stupid name."

"_...Yes, it is." _The Voice agreed. "_But anyway, these guys were a bunch of monsters from an ocean dimension. Unfortunately and ironically, they had polluted their ocean to the point where it was becoming uninhabitable. But they managed to get their hands on a pair of dimensional scissors and decided that they were going to take over Earth's ocean."_

"Why? Didn't Earth also have an extremely polluted ocean back then?" Meteora queried. "I remember Jenkins telling us that humanity didn't do the best job of taking care of the environment."

"_True, but I believe humanity's pollution was nothing compared to their own." _The Voice said. "_So, they launched a surprise attack, sunk a bunch of ships, and realized that they had to take out __**all**_ _the people on the surface if they hoped to succeed. They sent thousands of warriors onto major coastlines to do as much damage as possible, and the result was 50,000 human casualties and hundreds of millions of dollars of damage before the E.D.F showed up, wrecked them, stole the scissors, and shoved what remained of the Brine back into the hole they crawled out of."_

"But how does doing this now change any of that?" Meteora asked. "I mean, Jenkins couldn't have known that they were going to do that. I'm sure the E.D.F had a significant reach in other dimensions, but I doubt that they knew _everything _going on."

"_Well, actually, the reason he changed is because he __**could **__have known about it." _The Voice revealed. "_You see, a few days before the Brine surfaced, the E.D.F captured one of their spies that had been sent in early to check out everything. Learn more about the enemy and how best to defeat them. But this trained spy was also no older than a child, and had a very good cover story. Long story short, literally, the E.D.F. believed him, and he was set free. And...you know what happened next."_

"Ohhhh…" Meteora said slowly. "Yeah, okay, that explains it. No wonder he acted that way towards me. But...how did _you_ know that all of this happened? Didn't it occur years before you came to Earth? Jenkins never told us this story, so it's not like you could have learned it by watching us…"

"_Oh, it was in the early days of Earthni."_ The Voice said. "_I was listening in to a meeting between Jenkins and the other higher-ups of the E.D.F., and he told them that story. I think it was a favorite of his when he had to remind them why they shouldn't take any chances with beings from other dimensions, even ones that seem friendly at first."_

"Great. Well, my takeaway from this is that I am in a lot of trouble. Even more than I originally thought." Meteora said. "Do you think he'll interrogate me regularly first, or just skip straight to the torturing?"

"_Regularly first." _The Voice said. "_If we manage to get through this alive, and Jenkins believes and proves that you are indeed the daughter of Eclipsa and Globgor, then he will have to deal with the consequences of whatever he did to you while you were under interrogation. And if they hear that you were tortured...well, I'll just put it in the most polite way possible: Shit will hit the fan."_

"Pretty much what I expected," Meteora mumbled. "Now, why can't he just do a simple DNA test like taking a sample of my blood or spit and comparing it to baby me's? You think that would solve things pretty quickly..."

"_Not so." _The Voice said, sounding like it was shaking its head. "_There are shapeshifters out there in the multiverse that are capable of changing their entire DNA sequence to match a specific being, not just their outward appearance. And while they are exceedingly rare, they still exist, and I do not doubt that Jenkins is aware of their existence. A test like that proves nothing with them around."_

"Son of a…" Meteora started, before kicking the wall in frustration. "What _will _he do in the interrogation then? I know I've kinda asked this before, but what will happen exactly? Is it some good cop/bad cop type of scenario?"

"_No, there will only be one person conducting it."_ The Voice said. "_Probably their top interrogation expert. The type of person who can tell if someone is lying or not, no matter how hard they try to hide it, like Old Jenkins, who...will be watching the whole thing or course. So basically, tell the absolute truth, like I've been repeating. Lying about anything is futile."_

"Okay, but _you _said earlier that Jenkins might not like some of the answers I give him, and thus won't believe them," Meteora recalled. "If someone else is doing the testing, and he won't even be there, then what was even the point of telling me that?"

"_We were...just kinda there at the moment." _The Voice said. "_But whether he likes it or not, the answer we give him will still be the answer. That is the plain truth now."_

"..."

"_..."_

"...This isn't going to turn out in our favor no matter what we do, isn't it?" Meteora asked, honestly starting to grow tired of all this talk.

"_That...would be the most likely outcome, yes." _The Voice admitted. "_But we have to do our best."_

"Our best..." Meteora said, before glancing at the door to the bathroom and gripping the handle. "Yeah. That's all we _can_ do now, right? And what if our best isn't good enough?"

"_..."_

"Thought so." She said, and without waiting another moment, she flung the door and prepared herself for whatever Old Jenkins had in store for her.

* * *

It was only a short car ride to the building where Old Jenkins told Meteora she'd be held, no more than twenty minutes in length. But for her, it felt more like an eternity. There were six heavily armed guards sitting nearby, not including Old Jenkins, and even though they were wearing helmets with tinted visors, she could tell that they were all staring right at her. Ready to shoot her in case she moved her hand the wrong way or something. She had actually sneezed a minute or so into the journey, and Meteora noticed that all the guards had tensed up, their fingers tight on the trigger of their guns. She couldn't help but wonder if this was a reflex on their part because of fear, due to the fact that they _definitely _knew she had magic, or just an order from Old Jenkins in case she did anything that wasn't sitting still and breathing.

Either way, it showed that she was not in control here. If they wanted it she'd be dead in a second, and the Voice commented how she "_shouldn't try to move much" _on the ride over.

But after what happened with her sneeze, that wasn't something she needed to be told.

Despite this, however, boredom overcame her and she couldn't help but open her mouth, spewing forth a few questions directed at Old Jenkins, who was sitting directly across from her.

"What are you going to do with me?" She asked, and all the guards tensed up again, lifting the barrels of their guns in her direction. "Interrogate me for information?"

Old Jenkins leaned back and smiled with the edge of his mouth, clearly amused by her query. He placed both his hands behind his head and nodded at the guard to his left, who nodded back and got up, heading straight for Meteora.

"Hey, what are you-" She started, but before she could say anything else, the guard took something from behind their back and slapped it over her mouth. Meteora cried out in surprise, but the only sound that came out was a muffled noise. As the guard sat back down she realized what had been put on her: Some kind of plastic black face mask, covering her mouth and sticking to her face like there was glue attached to it. Meteora let out a few more muffled words and thought about trying to pry it off, before realizing that her arms would likely be restrained or worse before they even reached the mask.

Old Jenkins sighed and leaned forward, putting his hands together. Meteora leaned _back _as far as she could, thoroughly pissed off with how she was being treated but knowing that attempting to look tough at a time like this was a bad idea.

"I'm sorry about that." He said. "But we can't risk anything. You may be able to cast spells with nothing but your voice, and not your hands. I was hoping you wouldn't speak so we could grant you the small liberty of not having to constantly breathe through your nose, but...I guess you couldn't help it." He shook his head. "No worries though. We'll take it off once you get there. And I'm sure your "parents" will understand once they're informed of what we did."

Meteora could practically hear the air quotes, but with no way to comment on it she simply glared at Old Jenkins, tightly clutching the edges of her seat. Like hell her parents would understand. If she ever got out of this, the first thing she was going to do was make sure that Eclipsa put a law in place that prohibited the treatment of people like this by the E.D.F. Taking precautions was one thing, but this was nothing short of unfair. It didn't matter if they were in control of the entire world, taking away her right to _speak_ was-

"_I know what you're thinking, and I don't recommend trying it." _The Voice chimed in, sounding slightly disappointed with her. "_Old Jenkins won't stop doing this kind of thing no matter what Eclipsa tells him. Even if it permanently s__evers his relationship with one of the few people he knows that could be considered anything close to a "friend", he won't care. The protection of Earth is paramount."_

"Mmph." Meteora muttered, trying to say, "I think I get why our Jenkins doesn't talk much about what _he _was like in the past", but the mask prevented her from getting any further than "think". Old Jenkins definitely took notice though, and rolled his eyes at her.

"Trying to speak?" He asked. "Who are you talking to? A little voice inside your head?"

Meteora tried not to look surprised, and Old Jenkins chuckled. "You know, you're different." He said. "By all means, you look exactly how I envisioned a...I don't know, fifteen? Sixteen? How old are you?"

Meteora grumbled and resisted the urge to flip him off, getting the feeling that they'd tied her fingers together or even break them if she did so. Instead, she looked away and out the small back window, the only view of the outside world inside the van.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Jenkins said. "But as I was saying, you looked exactly how I envisioned an older version of Meteora would look. You got the horns, the purple coloring on the end of your arms, those claws, which have _definitely _seen some usage…"

'Wait, what? How can he tell that just by looking at them?' Meteora wondered, but before she could think about this further, Jenkins leaned forward and snatched one of her hands, yanking the hybrid towards him. She tried to yell "HEY" but only an angry muffled sound came out, followed by her trying to pull her hand out of his grip.

"Relax." He said, inspecting her claws with a look of morbid curiosity. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna see a few things. Keep struggling though, and I'll just tie you up and look at them like that."

Meteora wanted to struggle against him, so much that every instinct in her body was telling her to reach out and slash him across the face with her other hand, but all that would get her was a few bullets to _her _face. So she obeyed and stopped resisting, but continued swearing at him furiously in her head. She sat still and let him inspect them, but remained ready to yank her hand back in case he pulled out some clippers and tried to cut one of her claws off.

"Interesting…" He said, turning her hand over. "Same type of claws as your fathers...only purple. And with _much _more usage. I'd say...hmm." He put a hand up to his chin and let go of Meteora. "You've used those things to cut flesh, wood, maybe some stone, no doubt chipping or cracking them, and...perhaps some bone as well? Am I missing anything?"

Meteora raised an eyebrow at this analysis, wondering how he could have figured all that out from a ten-second inspection. The look on her face clearly said, "how do know all that", and Old Jenkins smiled again and pointed at the hand he just released, which Meteora was clutching to her chest and rubbing like he had dirtied it.

"I'm pretty good at recognizing stuff like that." He said. "After hundreds of monster attacks from other dimensions, you eventually learn exactly what someone has clawed in their life by the marks on them. Small cracks usually indicate stone. The feel of sawdust residue? Wood. Bone is typically cracked as well, although much longer and thinner. And flesh...blood residue. And I can say .that you have all four on you."

"How the hell…?" Meteora tried to say, only for it to come out as "ha than him…?" But Old Jenkins seemed to understand her fully, and responded in kind.

"Monster claws are a special thing." He explained. "Unlike normal animal claws, they have an odd ability to be...sticky, I guess, at the microscopic level. Anything you slash with them will leave traces of itself. And those traces…" He shrugged. "To get them off, you'd have to use nothing short of hydrochloric acid. And while they _are _microscopic, someone who knows what they're looking for can find them astonishingly fast. Like me for example. Make sense?"

Meteora paused and then shook her head, still unable to believe all this. He was able to feel _microscopic_ things_? _What kind of sense did that make? None, was the answer that was flowing through Meteora's mind. Was he bluffing and those were just lucky guesses? He probably knew about the whole "apocalypse" thing after all. Those four things he listed were the only thing she had ever really attacked with them. Because in the wasteland, there wasn't really anything _else _to attack besides the dirt.

But whatever way he did it, Old Jenkins let out a puff of air and shook his head right back. "I didn't expect you to believe me. That's okay. But I've been doing this for years, and have literally spent hours cooped in my office practicing that skill with claws that we took from other monsters. It's more useful than you might think after all. At the very least, it shows me that you've attacked or killed people in the future. Or...whenever else you came from. It also shows me that you're dangerous without having to provide some...ridiculous story."

Meteora's eyes widened after this, and the brief shock from this statement quickly turned to rage as she growled and almost ripped off her mask right then and there. Ridiculous story?! Is _that _what Old Jenkins thought of the life she lived?! The hundreds of hours or pain and suffering? The dozens of lives she took? The hardships? The constant hunger and thirst? _Everything?! _Was all that just _stories _to him?!

She stood up and slammed one of her feet against the floor, her knees bent slightly like she was about to lunge at him and claw his face off. And she might have done just that, if Old Jenkins hadn't snapped his fingers the second she left her seat, resulting in six guns being pressed against every side of her head. Meteora froze as she felt the sudden cold metal of their barrels, suddenly aware of just how bad a decision she was making.

"Careful…" Old Jenkins said, holding up his hand. "All I have to do is snap my fingers again, and you get six bullets to the brain. _And_ they're laced with Septarian DNA that we tampered with. Specifically, the strands that give them their healing abilities. So if you have any healing powers, those bullets will…reverse it, so to speak. Point is, you'll be dead."

Meteora unclenched her fists but didn't back down any further. Even if she couldn't attack him, she wasn't about to let Old Jenkins deface her whole life as nothing more than stories. She suddenly wondered if _her _Jenkins had been this much of a jerk in the past as well, because if he was, then she was shocked at just how less of an asshole he was.

(He was still kind of an asshole of course, but not as much as _this _guy.)

So instead, she slowly raised her arm and pointed to the mask, motioning for him to take it off. Old Jenkins shook his head and frowned, disappointment evident on his face.

"Still can't do that." He said. "I can see that you're quite angry, so I can't take that mask off and risk you rashly casting a spell. Anger makes people do stupid things, so I recommend you try to control your temper for a moment. At least you didn't immediately jump at me back there. That would have been one hell of a thing to explain to your "parents"..."

"..."

"..."

"Now...sit back down." He ordered. "Or I'll knock you out and you'll wake up in a padded cell. I try to be nice, try to put in a smile, try to have fun to distract me from how horrible all the things I do are. But if you don't do what I say, and _try _to make me mad, then _none _of this is going to go well for you. Got it?"

"..."

Meteora said nothing but did what he said, taking a seat and clenching the sides of it again, leaving long scratch marks in them. Old Jenkins breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand, and the guards lowered their guns and sat back down as well.

"Good." He said. "I'm glad we're on the same page. And I know how you must think of me. Some big, evil jerk taking you hostage to torture you for information. I don't want you to think of me that way. _Especially _if your story turns out to be true. I mean, me!" He exclaimed. "Taking care of two babies in the future in an apocalyptic wasteland! The fact that Globgor believed it is truly a thing to behold. I just hope you have some proof for it…"

'Oh, I have all the proof you'll ever need.' Meteora thought, narrowing her eyes. 'Just wait. Once I go spilling all the E.D.F. secrets that you told us, you'll _have _to believe me. I think I'll start with the fact that you punched a few holes in the walls of your office after the Merge. Start small, and then get to the good stuff.'

"But seriously…" Old Jenkins continued, ignorant and uncaring of any personal thoughts Meteora was having. "I might be able to believe it. The end of the world can make people do some crazy things. And I'm not talking about Janna turning "evil" or whatever. Trust me, that girl is already the devil incarnate. A nuclear holocaust just gave her the chance to let it all out. I'd arrest her...but then I would have it get in an argument with Star, which would lead to Moon, which would lead to Eclipsa, etc, etc. And that is a rabbit hole I'd rather not go down. But it _do _think-"

"Sir?" A sudden voice from the front of the truck said. "We've arrived."

"Ah." Old Jenkins said. "Well, nevermind then. We can get back to that later. As for now, it's time to go." He snapped his fingers again, and Meteora flinched, recalling how he had said that if he did that twice then everyone would shoot her. But instead, the two guards nearest to the door opened it, and Old Jenkins was the first to get up and climb out as sunlight flooded the inside of the truck. Afterwards, he motioned towards Meteora, who gulped and slowly ascended out of her seat he followed him, the sound of her feet hitting the ground ringing in her ears.

And her mouth hung open at the sight before her.

The base was nothing short of _enormous_. Everywhere she looked, in every direction, she could see it stretching over the horizon, and she started to wonder if they had left the town entirely. The ground was made up of a thin concrete, and there were hundreds of soldiers as far as the eye could see. Some of them were simply marching, some of them were carrying crates, and some of them seemed to be giving orders to others. But they all had one thing in common: They were looking at her. Although most were just going about her duties, Meteora could feel their glares. She had no doubt that every single one of them was ready to pull a gun and unleash a hailstorm of bullets in her direction if she tried anything, and she wondered if this entire thing was all a ruse. If these guys _weren't _just people going about their daily routine, but just acting like they were, as a way to make Meteora relax and think they weren't as well prepared as they were.

And then there was everything else. Dozens of trucks, tanks, and jets, enough to outfit an army. It looked more like the world's biggest military storage depot rather than a normal base, and Meteora wondered how many of these things were scattered across the world. Because even if the E.D.F. had just one in each country, if they were all like this then they could probably fight off the absolute worst the multiverse could throw at them, as long as they all joined as one big group.

There were buildings as well, but they all looked the same. Tall, long, and made of featureless grey concrete and metal with no windows and only one entrance. They looked like prisons. Which Meteora was sure what was in the designers mind when they were making them.

Noticing her shocked expression, Old Jenkins smirked and walked over until he was standing right next to her.

"Impressive, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically. "This base is over fifty square miles in size, with the largest collection of weapons and military vehicles in the entire Western Hemisphere. It extends a quarter beneath the ground and is capable of housing about...five-hundred thousand people. It took over two decades to fully construct, but it was worth it."

"_Fifty _square miles?!" Meteora tried to exclaim, only for it to once again come out as inaudible. But just like last time, Old Jenkins seemed to understand her fully, and replied in full.

"I know. It seems like a lot." He said. "And I'm sure you're wondering how we traveled that distance in such a short amount of time. But rest assured, we didn't go at hyper speed or have any teleportation devices. We're only on the very _edge_ of the base, one mile in. It's a half-hour drive if we want to get to the very middle, where we keep…" He paused and frowned. "...Well, that's not for you to know. It wouldn't make much difference now. But anyhow, remember to keep your hands to yourself and don't try anything as we make our way to where _you'll _be staying. Okay?"

Meteora didn't even bother trying to say anything back, only continuing to watch all the soldiers that passed by. They looked back at her with equally suspicious glares, all of them saying "_I'm watching you. Don't do anything stupid". _Old Jenkins patted her on the shoulder, although it was more of a shove, and motioned for her to move forward. Meteora huffed and began walking, listening to Old Jenkins as he told her where to move and when.

'What the hell?' She thought, following his commands and thinking to herself simultaneously. 'Fifty square miles in size? That's insane. I know that my Jenkins said that there were bigger bases out there in the world, even normal ones that didn't have anything to do with the E.D.F., but this is still ridiculous. And if it only took us like twenty minutes to get here by car, then why hasn't he told us about it? The largest collection of weapons and military vehicles in the entire Western Hemisphere?! I feel like we should have gone here at some point and maybe tried to see if there was anything left we could use!'

Meteora scoffed and then took another look around, standing on her tiptoes to try and see over the horizon. Once she squinted her eyes, she _thought _she could see a large metal fence about a mile away, grey and dull just like everything else. But only in one direction. Everywhere else she looked, there were just more buildings, more vehicles, more grey concrete.

'Guess that's the edge.' She thought. 'Seriously though, why haven't we been here before? Did Seth nuke it out of oblivion and Jenkins thought that we shouldn't bother coming here? But...argh, that doesn't make sense! I'm sure that when we arrived in Echo Creek a month or so ago, that it was the first time Jenkins had been here since the apocalypse! He should have at least _tried _to check! Was he worried that someone else had taken up residence…?' She frowned deeply. 'I suppose that makes _some_ sense, but I feel like-'

"You've been awfully quiet." Old Jenkins said, making Meteora's thought process come to a screeching halt. "I mean, I didn't expect you to try that much, but I'm surprised you haven't attempted to communicate again. Maybe to try and convince me to take that mask off. What's up?"

'Oh, screw you.' Meteora thought, rolling her eyes. 'You don't get to make small talk with me. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I'm praying to level five that this isn't the past but an alternate universe instead, because otherwise, I don't think I'm going to be able to look my Jenkins in the eye for a while after this.'

"No answer?" Old Jenkins said. "Ah, I don't blame you. I can only imagine what you're thinking right now. Although I did see you standing on your toes a second ago. Let me guess: Trying to see how far the base goes? Wondering if you might be able to make it out?"

Meteora shook her head.

"Then what _were _you doing?"

She stopped shortly after this, giving him a look that said, "really? Did you really just ask that?" Jenkins and the other guards stopped as well, and the hybrid pointed to her mask and then crossed her arms.

"Oh. Sorry." Old Jenkins said. "I suppose that _is_ getting rather annoying." He made a "tch" sound and then his face lit up, as if an imaginary light bulb had appeared above his head. "You know what? I think I'm going to take that off. I mean, no matter how powerful of a spell you cast, there are measures in place to counter it. Even if you cast one that could destroy an entire dimension, we can take care of that. The second any…" He paused and smiled "...huh. No, actually, I think it'd be best if you don't know that. You _might _find a way to counter it after all. But...like I was saying, I'm going to take that mask off and then we're going to have a nice conversation as we make our way to where we're going. So don't make me regret this, got it?"

Meteora nodded frantically after this, willing to follow _any_ (well, almost any) rule if it meant getting this muzzle mask off her. Old Jenkins smiled at the edges of his lips and then leaned down, his arm outreaching towards her face. He gripped both sides of the mask with his fingers and pulled it off in one quick tug, leaving Meteora dumbfounded and wondering if she could have taken it off just like that the whole time. Old Jenkins handed the mask to one of the guards, who pocketed it without any comment.

"Now move forward again." Old Jenkins said. "We're not going to stand here and talk. We still have places to be after all."

Meteora wet her lips and then did as she was told, turning back around and moving on. As before, the rest closely followed her, although she thought it was _much _closer than before. And the people walking around, looking like they were minding their own business, seemed to be watching her even more carefully, if that was even possible.

"So…" Old Jenkins started. "What _were _you doing? And a reminder that you should be careful with your choice of words. If you say something that sounds like a spell, these guards have orders to drop you."

"...Noted." Meteora said, after some hesitation. "I...wasn't trying to see if I could escape or not. I don't think that would even be possible, considering how much firepower I'm sure you have trained on me right now."

"What are you talking about?" Old Jenkins said, almost in an innocent manner, the same way a person who was guilty of a crime but not sorry for it would react once being accused. "Six guns is more than enough-"

"Everyone I see has been watching me like a hawk since I've arrived," Meteora said. "Every. Last. One. When I said "trained on me", I didn't mean directly. I'm sure all of these people walking by are ready to pull out their guns and fire at your command, or at the first sign that something's wrong. Right?"

Old Jenkins narrowed his eyes somewhat but kept his smile. Meteora wasn't sure what to make of this, but she took it as a sign that he was pissed that she had figured out his decoy. "Right." He said softly. "Good observation. You're correct of course. All I have to do is snap my fingers, which I'm sure you've guessed by now is our signal for action, and a million bullets come flying your way, not to mention an impressive amount of explosives and ordnance weapons. Something no one would be able to survive, not even a shape-shifter…"

"Don't get your hopes up," Meteora said. "I'm not a shape-shifter. If I was, I would have already disguised myself as _you _and left that Temple long ago. Nobody is going to question anything you tell them. Someone like that, who's looking to infiltrate, would be a fool to choose any other form."

"An interesting point…" Old Jenkins said. "But no. A better choice would be a common soldier, one nobody would look twice at. Like any of these people walking by. But _me? _It's very hard to imitate someone like me. Most people wouldn't have the stomach for it if they're trying to make it as accurate as possible."

"I think I got you down pretty well already.

In fact...I think I'll show just how much about you I know." Meteora said, before clearing her throat and grinning as an idea came to mind. "Let's say there was a mob of protesters in Echo Creek complaining about all the monsters. Mewmans and humans alike. And let's say on the _other _side there's a group of monster protesters who are there to counter this."

"A scenario that I can easily imagine happening." Old Jenkins said. "If I heard of this, the first thing I would do is-"

"Oh no," Meteora interjected. "I'm imitating you, remember? Why don't you give me a chance first, and then you can explain what you'd do."

"...Alright then." Old Jenkins said. "Go ahead. Give me your best shot. But after you're finished, I'll tell you what I'd _really_ do to those protesters."

"Fair enough," Meteora said, still smiling widely. "So, the first thing you'd do is probably fire a gun straight into the air to get everyone's attention, and then they say something along the lines of "disperse! This is not happening today! You know, to get their attention and all that."

Old Jenkins raised an eyebrow at this, silently noting just how spot-on that prediction had been. Meteora stifled a chuckle, hoping that his expression at the end of all of this would be just as shocked as the one she was envisioning in her mind.

"And after that, the protesters would refuse to leave, so then you would point your gun at them and tell them that they're going to die unless they get out of there." She said. "They would go, and the leader of the monster protesters would thank you for getting rid of them...only for you to punch them in the face, because you likely sent a message to Eclipsa saying that she wasn't allowed to let any of her citizens form mobs, even to protest other protesters." She sighed. "The monster would reprimand you, wondering aloud if you'd fire on your own people, you would say "yes, but they'd mostly be rubber bullets", and then force them all to leave."

She turned around and faced Old Jenkins, now walking backwards. "Do you think I missed anything, or did I get it all down?"

For a moment, Old Jenkins just narrowed his eyes at her again, his face deadpan and devoid of emotion. (Much to Meteora's disappointment.) But then, a second later, he snapped his fingers. The girl gasped as she realized what was about to happen, and instantly everyone in sight, which added up to hundreds of people, all turned towards her and pulled guns seemingly out of nowhere, every single one trained on her head. Pistols, machine guns, shotguns, every type of gun imaginable was now aimed at her. More than a few even held rocket launches, and beyond all the soldiers that Meteora thought she could see several tanks with their barrels aimed in her direction. The six soldiers that had been escorting her were part of this group...as well as Old Jenkins, who had pulled out a small pocket shotgun and was pointing it directly between her eyes.

For a moment, no one moved. No one even breathed. Meteora couldn't because she was so terrified, and everyone else wasn't like they were under orders not to.

"H-hey…" She stuttered, choking the words out. "I didn't-"

"Have you been spying on us?" Old Jenkins demanded.

"W-what?"

"_Spying!" _He shouted, making Meteora flinch. "What you just said was the exact events of what happened in a protest a _few days ago. _Down to the letter. Everything you described me doing I did. There's no way it's just a coincidence. So...I'm going to repeat the question. Have you been spying on Echo Creek?"

"N-no!" Meteora yelled, her eyes darting to the side. "I haven't-"

"HEY! EYES. FORWARD." Old Jenkins growled. "If you look anywhere else but me, try to plan any escape attempts, I'll give the word and five hundred guns and three tanks will unleash their full barrage on this very spot."

"W-won't you die as well?"

"It's a small price to pay." Old Jenkins said. "I can be replaced. This dimension can not. You have magic, so I can't allow myself to take any risks with you, even if it means _my _death also. Everyone here is prepared to die at any given moment. So don't think you can bluff your way out of this like that."

"I-I wasn't bluffing," Meteora said softly.

"Maybe, maybe not." Old Jenkins said. "Now answer the question again. Have you been spying on us?"

"I haven't," Meteora said, before gulping. "Okay, listen. I wasn't spying on you there. I wasn't _technically _at that protest. I just saw...a memory of it."

"A _memory_? Who's memory?" Old Jenkins asked.

"That's...kinda hard to explain," Meteora said. "Can I, uh, have a few moments to myself? There's someone I need to talk to about this and-"

"Are you joking?" Old Jenkins asked rhetorically. "You don't even get your one phone call in this situation. So why don't you tell me the person who's memory you saw so that we can look at a few cameras and see if they were at the protest, and if it checks out, I _might _reconsider putting a hole in your head."

"That's...not going to be possible." Meteora whimpered. "Because if you put a hole in my head, you're...kinda ensuring you'll never get to speak to them."

"No kidding, because we don't know-"

"No…not like that," Meteora said. "I just...okay." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to have to talk to myself for a few moments here. Please don't respond, because that'll only distract me. It may be confusing right now, but I promise it will all make sense later. Can you _please _just allow me to do that?"

"..."

"..."

"You say one wrong thing…" Old Jenkins hissed. "You say _anything _that sounds like a spell, I'm pulling this trigger, you got it?"

"Yes!" Meteora said quickly. "I-"

"But…" He continued. "I want to hear every word of what you're saying. You're going to face me the whole time and speak aloud. If you turn away, boom. If you speak under your breath even once, boom. If you say something I don't like…"

"...Boom?"

"Exactly. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly," Meteora said. "Okay, I'm just going to...Voice, I need your help." She requested, now speaking directly to it and silently praying that it was there.

"_I'm...not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do here." _It said, almost sounding nervous, and Meteora thanked level five that it wasn't off doing things like it had been at the most inconvenient of times. "_I can't talk to them directly. And don't suggest that we get Old Jenkins to fall asleep so that we can bring him to the mind realm and I can talk with him there. Because there's no way in a million days he's going to agree to that."_

"I...wasn't about to suggest that," Meteora said. "Although now that I think about it, maybe we _could _try and-"

"_NO! We're not doing that." _The Voice shouted, causing Meteora to flinch again. "_Listen. We just can't. Even assuming that we __**do **__convince him to let us literally invade his mind, he might think that I'm some kind of trick created by you. It's going to be difficult to make him think otherwise."_

"Then just manipulate the mindscape!" Meteora suggested. "I think that would be pretty convincing!"

"_No, because he'll think that you're doing that and not me." _The Voice pointed out. "_Meteora, he will not want to believe that I exist. One of his main fears in life is being presented with a problem or enemy that is too much for him to handle. If he sees me, a level-three being that he can't do anything against, he might not want to believe it. And what did I tell you earlier?"_

"...That he's the type of person who doesn't believe anything he doesn't like." Meteora sighed, making Old Jenkins glare at her with one eye. "Yes, I remember."

"_Then you know that he won't want to believe in me." _The Voice said. "_Again, there is not much I can do. He is too stubborn. And I must say, going off about the protest you saw in my memories and explaining everything you saw in it was a __**really stupid idea.**_ _Why did you do that?!"_

"Why didn't _you_ stop me?!" Meteora asked. "I was going to be honest, I was worried enough when I was doing it. And if I'm anxious about something, then you should be freaking out! That's kinda how it works with us."

"_...I just wanted to see how things played out. Also, I didn't predict that he would have such a sudden reaction. Also also, I didn't know that the protest was only a few days ago."_

"See how things played out...talk about a poor decision. But whatever. Just give me some advice." Meteora said. "Or do something, I don't care. As long as it doesn't end with a bullet between my eyes."

"_...I got nothing." _The Voice admitted.

"Nothing?!" Meteora exclaimed. "Are you seriously telling me that-"

"_Remember that I am having trouble with all this." _The Voice reminded her. "_Back at the Temple, I told you that. That even for me, this was starting to get to be too much. And this little event only further complicates things. I'm trying to focus on so many things at once, and it's getting extremely tiresome!"_

"Then can you focus on just..._one _thing?" Meteora requested. "The predicament that we're in right now?"

"_I...okay." _The Voice said, sounding defeated. "_I think I may have...__**one **__idea. But it's a stretch."_

"Don't care. What is it?"

"_Threaten him."_

"What?! Are you out of your-"

"_Shut up and let me finish! Don't say anything until I'm done!" _The Voice demanded. "_Meteora, there is no real way we can regularly talk our way out of this one. For like the tenth and last time, Old Jenkins won't believe anything we tell him about the future because he won't like it. But if there's anything he cares more about then the truth, it's protecting Earth. Now, say "oh, right, I forgot about that". Don't argue, just do it."_

"...Oh, right, I forgot about that." Meteora said nervously, trying her best to make it sound genuine. She still had no idea what was going through the Voice's mind, but if this was their only way out, then she wasn't going to say no to it.

"_Good. Now, here is the plan." _It replied, sounding like it was sweating buckets. "_Jenkins is a person who values Earth's protection above all else. So when something threatens Earth and could potentially destroy the entire planet and end humanity, he takes it with an extremely serious tone. But this also has a downside. When faced with absolute __**imminent **__destruction, as in seconds or minutes away, he tends to act rashly. His seriousness fades into panicked thinking. I suspect that he was like this just before the apocalypse, even though I didn't see it first hand. Now, say "that's a good idea"."_

"That's a good idea," Meteora repeated, her eyes widening as she was beginning to understand what the Voice was getting at. Or at least she _thought _she did. If the Voice's plan was really what she predicted it to be...then it could either end very, very well, or very, very bad. Probably bad.

"_Okay. Now, here is my actual plan. You are a magical being. The first he had encountered in months. Old Jenkins is very knowledgeable in magic, but he doesn't know everything. And neither does anyone else. I think that if we're able to convince him of...something else, we might survive this encounter. This is what you will do. You will say something like, "you can't hurt me, because if you do, then you're dooming your entire planet". You will then go into an explanation like this: I have an intense concentration of magical energy inside me. If you harm me or do anything else to me that I don't like, then I'll set it off and fry this entire planet. And if you kill me, then It'll happen anyway."_

'That's your plan?!' Meteora thought, unable to talk but really wishing she could at the moment. 'I mean, it _could _work, but this is still going to go horribly. No matter if it works or not, I'm sure he's going to try and find some way around it to ensure that that doesn't happen. Like knocking me out or-'

"_And don't worry about being knocked out." _The Voice said. "_You can claim that it will be set off if that happens to. You cast a spell before you arrived here to ensure that that happens, so you can't be captured either. Oh, and before you start worrying about the proof for this, as in proof that you can actually do it, don't worry about that." _It reassured her. "_Just...try not to look too surprised when it happens."_

"..."

"_Look." _The Voice said. "_I know you can't talk right now. I know you probably have so many questions and complaints about this plan. But it could very well be our only way out of here. Just talk and leave the rest to me. We'll get through this. Like I told you. Old Jenkins will act rashly, and then it's smooth sailing."_

"...Okay…" Meteora said nervously, before looking up at Old Jenkins. She hated this. She hated it so much. She knew what she had to do, but she wasn't sure if she could actually do it. What would happen once she let loose with that claim? And what was the Voice's plan for "proof"? Try not to look surprised? What exactly was it going to do?

There was only one way to figure out the answer to all of these things, and Meteora was almost out of time. She just wished that she had been given a better explanation of what to say.

"You...I wouldn't do that if I were you." Meteora said defiantly.

"Are...you talking to me again?" Old Jenkins asked. "And if so, what don't I want to do?"

"Shoot me. Or harm me in any way." Meteora said. "I think there's something you should know...I have an extremely large amount of magical energy concentrated in my body at all times. And I set a bit of a failsafe before I came here." She gulped, unable to believe what she was about to say. "And that failsafe is...if you shoot me, or hurt me at all, I'll set it all off, blow myself up, and fry the entire surface of the Earth."

"..."

"..."

"Is this a joke?" Old Jenkins asked, clearly skeptical at this claim. As for everyone else that heard, the six guards and the few soldiers who were nearby, they were all silent glancing at each other, no doubt thinking the same thing. "Are you...trying to make a fool out of me? Right now, with five hundred guns pointing at you?"

"No," Meteora said, shaking her head. "No to both of those questions. I had briefly forgotten about it due to the stress of everything that was happening, but after a little...reminder, I recalled that it was a thing I could do. So...first things first, I want-"

"Oh nononono…" Old Jenkins interjected. "You don't get to make a claim _that _big, one that threatens the entire Earth, and not expect me to ask for some proof first. You forgot about it at the moment? Are you kidding? If I had a power like that, it'd be in the back of my mind 24/7! The power to destroy an entire dimension...no. You wouldn't forget about it at a time like this. You would have mentioned it back in the truck, or even at the Temple, because you clearly know me. Any person who's not a total moron would say that first. Not _after _their life had been threatened several times!"

"...Well, I did." Meteora said nervously. "And I d-do have proof. In fact…"

"_Remember, don't freak out." _The Voice reminded her, sounding like a person who was about to throw a punch.

"...I have it right here!" She finished, speaking in an extremely dramatic tone.

"..."

"..."

Nothing happened.

And Old Jenkin's finger tightened on the trigger of his gun, his face one of silent fury. Meteora's heart dropped and then flew upwards into her throat, making her feel like she was choking on something. This was it. Whatever the Voice had tried to do had failed, and now she-

A brilliant light exploded from her chest, bright as the sun and coming directly where her heart was.

Old Jenkins cried out and covered his eyes, while the six soldiers next to him did the same. The rest all looked away towards each other, their faces asking if they should shoot or not. Meteora herself was shocked for a fraction of a second, before she forced her expression to be an almost smug one, smile and all. The light kept going for a few seconds before it died down somewhat, but was still bright enough to force Old Jenkins to squint his eyes at her.

"See? I told you so!" Meteora said, so happy that it had worked that the rush of excitement clouded all of her fear and confusion. "Now do you believe me?"

For a moment, Old Jenkin's eyes flickered with fear, and Meteora thought he almost looked scared. But then he retired to a deadpan expression and stepped towards her like a person possessed.

"Alright." He said, placing his hands behind his back. "Meteora Butterfly. Or whatever it is you are."

He leaned forward and frowned deeply, his face one of pure contempt.

"What is it that you want from us?"

**End chapter 41**

**A/N: Boy oh boy, things aren't really looking up for anyone. Except for maybe Mariposa, but that's a stretch at best. But Meteora has placed herself into a bit of corner with that comment she made, Old Jenkins is a giant jerk, and the "present" is as dark and foreboding as ever. Literally. The next few chapters will deal with the fallout of this one and some more risky decisions on all sides. Lots of fun.**

**But as usual, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	42. Chapter 42: Truck-Trap

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 42**

**Truck-Trap**

Meteora had made several immediate requests the second after Old Jenkins asked her "what do you want"?

First: She goes back to the Monster Temple and her parents.

Second: She stops being treated like trash and no more weapons are to be pointed at her ever again, if the E.D.F. can help it.

Third: There was no third option she could think of.

And after those two demands, she was now here. Sitting in the exact same truck from earlier, having been quickly escorted there after her light show. Only this time, it was just her and Old Jenkins. As much as she would have liked to order that she go alone (minus the driver), she knew that this was a terrible idea for several reasons. For one, she wanted to keep Old Jenkins in her sight. Level five knows what dastardly plans he was hatching up inside that head of his for how to take her down, and Meteora didn't want to give him any access to his soldiers or the other commanders of the E.D.F. And she wasn't really worried about them making any decisions on her own. She had requested that nobody who was present for her little "announcement" tell anyone what they saw, otherwise, boom.

She had to make up a lie that she could actually sense whenever someone was talking about her via a spell she cast for this to work, but they seemed to believe it. And "seemed" was good enough for her.

But back in the truck, Old Jenkins was sitting across from her, his arms crossed as he glared at her intensely. Meteora wasn't looking at him, but rather out the tiny back window, looking at the few snippets of landscape that she caught. With a dramatic sigh, Old Jenkins spoke up for the first time since they set off, his tone one of pure abhorrence.

"You're not going to win this in the end." He stated. "Whatever you're planning, whatever you want, you won't get it when this is all over. We've faced and beaten sudden threats like you before. We'll do it again."

"Yeah…" Meteora said, who already had a bunch of pre-prepared replies he thought up earlier for any questions or comments Old Jenkins might have. "I'm pretty sure that's a bluff. If you did, then you'd have had it ready for me back at the base, right? Some giant machine that could vaporize me and all the energy I carry just like that?"

"..."

"Thought so," Meteora said. "Listen. I don't want to hurt anyone. If I wanted to, I could have. But you forced my hand. Kidnapping me like that, taking me away from my parents, slapping that muzzle over my mouth, pointing all those guns at me." She shook her head. "Honestly, I should detonate myself right here, if only to kill you. Your future self is an _infinitely _better person than the one you are now."

"Ah yes." Old Jenkins said. "Back to that. How I raised you in the apocalypse. You still have no proof of that other than your word, you know? And if history has taught me anything, it's that someone's word is the least reliable source if you're looking for the truth."

"That's probably true. But tell me this." Meteora said. "Why would I lie to you? I can blow up the world whenever I want. You pose absolutely no threat to me. What could I possibly be scared of here if I lied to you? What reason do I have for not telling the truth?"

Surprisingly, Old Jenkins remained quiet after this, only staring at Meteora as if he was studying her. But a moment later he scoffed and leaned back in his seat, shaking his head all the while.

"None of that matters." He said. "Not unless you give me real proof. Again, I could never envision myself taking care of children. _Toddlers_, if your story is to be believed." He sighed. "Well, even if that is true, at least that mistake of a timeline will be erased. Now that we've stopped Seth's escape and have the prisoners guarded to all hell, the future _you _claim you come from should cease to exist."

"...Not how that works." Meteora said. "Different timelines are sorta like different dimensions in a way. You can't change one by altering another. You're just messing with the one you're already in."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning you couldn't take a time machine, go to the past, screw something up, go back to _your _time, and expect anything to be different," Meteora explained. "Time can't be messed around with like that. Honestly, I'm sure the level five made it that way…"

"Oh, so you know about that." Old Jenkins said. "The five-level system of beings. And I'm assuming you're talking about the "good" level five here, not the one whose name begins with an L."

Meteora froze after this, before slowly glancing over at Old Jenkins. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, mimicking talking but not actually making any sound. Finally, she cleared her throat and managed to get a few words through, which were dripping with confusion.

"You..._you_ know about the five-level system?" She asked.

"Should I not?"

"I...yes?" Meteora replied. "My version of you said he didn't know anything about the five-level system. It was a completely new concept to him. And while that L guy, Lyth-"

"_Don't _say the name." Old Jenkins warned. "Every mere mention gives him more power."

"He's already completely omnipotent." Meteora pointed out.

"True." Old Jenkins agreed. "But every little bit helps."

"...Right." Meteora said, before getting back on track. "But enough of that. He knows about the L guy, but everything else was a mystery to him. But if _you _know about, then _he _should know, and-"

"And that means he was lying." Old Jenkins said, his signature grin returning. "My my. And earlier you claimed that he was a much better person than me. But even I would never lie to my foster daughter about something like that. Unless, of course, it was-"

"To protect me," Meteora interjected. "I'm sure that's why he did it. He wouldn't lie to us for no reason. The amount of stuff he's told us about himself that I'm sure he hasn't told anyone else is astounding."

Old Jenkins scoffed again, which Meteora thought was practically a character trait at this point. "Yeah? Like what?"

"Like how he's allergic to a specific type of caterpillar that's probably died out in the future," Meteora said, causing Old Jenkins to rear back in surprise. "Although by him, I suppose I mean "you". Because that's exactly what you're allergic to as well, aren't you?"

Old Jenkins scowled at her after this, before slowly lowering his head. "I admit it. That one is true. And it is a secret I haven't told anyone. Only my parents and a few of my childhood friends, most of whom are dead now, knew. And even then, any one of them who's still alive don't know the position I'm in. So…" He sighed. "Heh. Maybe you _do_ know a few things."

"Yeah. So can you actually start believing me?" Meteora asked. "Because I could tell you a lot more. Like the childhood friends you mentioned. One of them was named Zeke. Or how Eclipsa, Globgor, Star, and Marco are the only people you respect. Or how you punched holes in the walls of your office and the E.D.F. headquarters out of rage after the Merge. Or how-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Old Jenkins said. "You made your point, _Meteora_." He spat. "But don't expect me to believe you that easily. If you have enough magic inside you to blow up the Earth, then it's certainly not a stretch to say that you can read minds as well. Heck, you could be doing it right now. I know what the most powerful magic users are capable of. And lying when you have abilities like that is the easiest thing in the world."

'This guy…why can't he just...just...wait. No, he's right.' Meteora thought. 'I could just be reading his mind right now if I truly had the magic power I possessed. Digging through it and picking out information that I like the look of. But...somehow he hasn't detected that I'm lying. Which is odd, considering that the Voice said he'd be able to detect when I was lying no matter what. Was it because of the proof? The light in my chest? Or were my words just _that _convincing?'

"...You ever wonder why that base is there?" Old Jenkins suddenly asked, pulling Meteora out of her head. "Why we have it so close to town? Why it's so big despite something of that size being unnecessary? Why we have so many damn troops and vehicles on it, enough to take on a small country?"

"..."

"..."

"...No?" Meteora said, not sure where he was getting with this. "I mean, this is the capital of Earthni. If someone tries to attack it, you're going to need a base that large to-"

"How far away from the town do you think we are?" Old Jenkins interjected. "Just how far away is the base from Echo Creek?"

"I...a couple miles?" Meteora stuttered. "Look, I don't know where you're going with this, but-"

"A couple miles…" Old Jenkins said, before chuckling lightly. "Look outside Meteora. What do you see? Do you recognize any of the landscape we're passing by?"

With some hesitation, Meteora briefing took her eyes off Old Jenkins and glanced out the back window. There she could see the road as they drove along it, with fields of grass and small houses on either side. It looked extremely simple and quaint. Nothing was there that would raise any suspicion.

But…

"No," Meteora said. "I don't recognize any of it. Because in my time, all those houses are piles of rubbles, the road is cracked and almost unusable, and the grass is mostly dead. Oh, and the air is filled with a constant dust. It's not pretty." She glanced back at him and narrowed her eyes. "So again...no. I didn't recognize any of this."

"Hm. Okay, that didn't go the way I hoped." Old Jenkins said. "But I think there's something you should know. Get up out of your seat. Go to the window and take a closer look. And I don't mean stare blankly. Look. _Really _look."

"What the hell are you trying to-"

"Just _look!" _Old Jenkins demanded, and for a second Meteora's fear of the man returned. But it was soon replaced by the confidence that she had spent the last half-hour or so mastering, and so she bit her tongue, got up, and moved towards the window.

"You better not try to attack me." She warned. "You already know what's going to happen."

"Of course." Old Jenkins said. "Don't mind me. I won't try anything."

"..."

"..."

"...Voice?" Meteora whispered hesitantly. "What the hell is he doing?"

"_I'm not sure…" _It admitted. "_It's quite possible that he may be trying to get some reaction from you, or try to get you to lower your guard. But again, I'm not sure. But I __**am **__sure that we have him completely convinced of your world-destroying ability, so I don't think it's about that."_

"Hopefully," Meteora mumbled, before taking another step towards the window and looking out. Only to see the same thing as before. The grass. The houses. The road. Still nothing that raised any eyebrows. Both figuratively and literally.

"I don't see anything different." She growled. "If you're trying to play me, then I suggest-"

"What did I just tell you?" Old Jenkins asked, shaking his head. "Don't stare. Look closer, Meteora. Tell me what you see."

"Ugh...fine," Meteora muttered, before turning back to it. She peered further out the window, squinting her eyes to see if she had missed anything. But still, there wasn't anything that she could detect-

"What the…"

At least, that is what she thought. Because now that she was following Jenkins advice, actively searching for anything that was out of place instead of just taking a casual glance, she could see that there was a..._lot _wrong. For starters, the houses looked almost _too _similar. And not like they had been built with similar blueprints or by the same contractor, no, it looked like someone had taken _one _house and copy-and-pasted it hundreds of times. It was actually kind of creepy once Meteora realized it, and she was about to back away before she saw something else that caught her eye.

There were no trees. Not a single one.

And while this might not be uncommon for some places, or it might just be that the residents cut all the trees down, Meteora knew that this couldn't be the case. Back in Echo Creek, the destroyed version, she had seen plenty of trees in front of and behind all the houses. Sure, they were burned to hell, but they were still there. There were traces of their existence.

But there was nothing like that here. No trees to be found anywhere. At least _one _of these houses should have had something of the sort, the odd one out, but there never was. The same copy-and-paste thing from earlier.

And then...there was the _third _thing she noticed. She didn't see a single person. Nobody was outside of their house, mowing the already perfect lawns, washing their cars, or just going for a walk. And yes, it was still relatively early in the morning, as the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon, but Meteora recalled Jenkins once telling her that a good deal of people in Echo Creek were "early risers", so just like the trees, she should have spotted at least one person by no.

But also like the trees, nope.

Meteora then turned back to Old Jenkins, and judging by the expression on his face he was rather amused that she had figured it all out. She quickly sat back down in her seat, a hundred questions going through her head.

"...Is it real?" She asked.

"Is what real?" Old Jenkins replied. "You're going to have to be a little more speci-"

"Cut the crap, you know exactly what I'm talking about," Meteora said. "All of that stuff outside. The identical houses. The mysterious absence of any people or trees. Something is obviously wrong out there, and you're not telling me what. So I'm going to ask again. Is it real?"

Old Jenkins smirked and leaned back in his seat for what felt like the hundredth time. "You are a smart one." He said. "I'm happy that you managed to figure it out, considering that you claim you come from a timeline where none of what you just saw is the norm."

"I'm inexperienced to it, but I'm not stupid," Meteora mumbled. "So _tell me _if-"

"Alright." Old Jenkins said. "Yeah. I'm going to be straight with you here...I've kinda been bullshitting you from the beginning."

"...How so?"

"Well, for one thing, that road we've been traveling on...is entirely simulated."

"Simulated?" Meteora repeated, before gasping. "Then that means I was right! It is all fake! It's just some kind of illusion you guys made for me!"

"Bingo." Old Jenkins admitted. "It's not real. It's all thanks to some _incredibly _advanced hologram technology. Very useful for people like you. Of course, considering that you claimed you had extremely powerful magic, I didn't think it would work. Any magic user worth their salt would be able to sense that it wasn't real. That their eyes don't match with the rest of their senses. But...you didn't." He grinned again, this time showing off all of his teeth. "Which means you _lied_, didn't you? You can't blow up the world. Do you have _any _idea how powerful you'd have to be in order to be capable of that? Do you know how much weight you carried behind that claim?"

"Wha-it...it's true!" Meteora shouted, now panicking both internally and externally. She could feel herself beginning to lose control of the situation at this sudden revelation. She had to remain calm, figure out a logical way out of this that wouldn't make her look like an absolute fool. "I wasn't lying about that. If you accuse me of it again, I think I'll _show _you, and then when you get to hell, you can tell yourself over and over about how it was your fault and-"

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Old Jenkins said. "I was just poking fun there. I wanted to see your reaction. You're a very easy person to peeve, Meteora."

"Yeah? Well, I'm sure being near you for more than an hour would drive _anyone _insane." Meteora growled. "But...ugh. Okay. What did this mean then? Are we still back at the base? Is this truck even moving? What are you trying to accomplish?"

"Oh, it's definitely moving." Old Jenkins said. "Do you remember one of the questions I asked earlier? How far away do you think we are from Echo Creek?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Old Jenkins then shrugged and looked at her expectantly, and Meteora sighed and gave him the same answer she gave him last time.

"A few miles." She replied. "I don't think it's any more than that. This is hardly a long drive anyways. I'm sure we're already at the halfway point back to the town."

"You would be correct about that…" Old Jenkins said. "But no. We're not a few miles out of town. We're _much _further away. This truck was constructed primarily for crossing huge distances in short amounts of time, Meteora. It was made in a laboratory after over ten years of research by some of our top scientists, who were figuring out how to make a vehicle go extremely fast while creating the illusion for the ones _inside _said vehicle that they were going no faster than...maybe forty or fifty miles an hour."

"So what? We're actually going a lot faster than I think?" Meteora guessed. "Are we _ten_ miles outside of town?"

"No." Old Jenkins said. "Meteora, this truck is currently traveling at five-hundred miles per hour, in an underground tunnel that opened up the second we left the base. The base is a _hundred_ miles from the town."

"..."

"..."

"You're joking," Meteora said, with a stunned expression on her face. "No. No. No, there is _no _way we're traveling that fast and I'm unable to detect it. You have to be lying. This is some sort of trick or-"

"It's not a lie." Old Jenkins said. "What reason would I have to lie to you at this point? Besides, what's the big deal? You claim you can blow up the world, so if you detonate, you'll get it anyway. A hundred miles is nothing compared to tens of thousands."

"That's not what I care about!" Meteora shouted. "What kind of crap did you put _into _this thing?! The walls look like they're made of a single sheet of metal! That window is probably bulletproof, but at the end of the day, it's still just glass! If we were going that fast, we'd feel it or I'd be forced to the back of the truck by the acceleration! That doesn't make any sense!"

"Didn't you remember what I told you?" Old Jenkins asked. "We spent years working on this thing in a lab. There are only five of these tricks in existence. Each is specially made to withstand those forces, and again, trick their passengers into thinking they're going at a modest speed. Do you have any idea what the most technologically powerful organization in the world can accomplish with ten years or research? Honestly, by this point, it's a miracle we haven't found a way to go faster than light."

"But...but how?!" Meteora asked. "How does that even work?!"

"I'm not entirely sure…I leave most of the science to the people who, you know, are paid to do it." Old Jenkins said. "But from what I understand, it somehow creates a field emitted from a mini gravity-generator. This field prevents anyone from being thrown to the back of the truck like you said, or being moved around by anything but their movements in general. That's all I have on it, really. I understand the underlying idea, but how they built it and the physics behind it are still a mystery."

"Now it just sounds like you're making excuses," Meteora mumbled. "But why would you want the base to be so far away? Shouldn't it be close to Echo Creek so you can get there super fast in case of an emergency? And didn't you already have a base in the town? Why didn't we go to that one?"

"We didn't go to that base because it didn't have what we required for interrogation." Old Jenkins said. "As for your first question, that goes back to the first one _I _asked a little ago. Why was that base there? Well, Meteora, it's very simple." He leaned forward and put his hands together. "You know, I found it rather amusing that you claim the world was destroyed by nukes. I never thought that something like that would happen, and if it did, it wouldn't be because of someone from another dimension. Namely Seth. But...it did. And the second you told me about it, I started wondering if the nuke that destroyed your Echo Creek was in fact the one _we _had on the ground."

"Well, it wasn't, Archibald said he saw something fall from the-" Meteora started, before she abruptly froze and went back over what Old Jenkins had just said. "...Hold on. What do you mean you have a nuke on the ground?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Old Jenkins said. "Echo Creek, as you know, is the Capital of Earthni. And in these times, where all of Mewni has spread itself across the Earth, it is the most important location in the world, especially when it comes to politics. Therefore, it is extremely imperative that we protect it so that it doesn't get overrun by any foreign enemies. But if it ever came to that, if it reached a point where it was captured and we couldn't get it back, we'd have to be prepared to make the ultimate gamble…" His vision then darkened and he turned away from Meteora. "...the ultimate _sacrifice."_

"So...so you'd just blow everything up?!" Meteora exclaimed. "Then that's why the base is so far away! So it doesn't get affected if you activate the nuke!"

"Correct." Old Jenkins said. "But unfortunately...the same could not be said for anyone _inside _the city at the time. Like I told you, the ultimate sacrifice. Even if it's overrun, there will still be citizens inside, spared by the enemy in exchange for ransom or just because they're not evil enough to murder them all. But at that point, nothing could be done for them. We'd blow it anyway. A handful of people, even them, is nothing compared to keeping the Capital out of enemy hands."

"Wha...that's horrible!" Meteora exclaimed. "You can't just kill everyone like that! It's inhumane! And it's _definitely _not something your future self would…...actually, nevermind, he'd totally do that if it meant saving the rest of the world…" She admitted, before regaining her momentum. "...But you should at least give them _some _sort of chance! What enemy could you guys be facing that you couldn't handle?! And why would destroying Echo Creek entirely be any better than letting someone capture it?! This makes no sense!"

"I see…" Old Jenkins said. "So after everything I just said, after you heard all my reasoning behind it, you truly believe that those people should be given a chance to escape, even if it means a long-term loss? That their lives should be _spared _and that an alternate solution should be found? That the killing of all those innocents is _wrong?"_

"_Wait…" _The Voice suddenly said. "_Oh no...Meteora, whatever you do, don't ans-"_

"Yes!" Meteora shouted, completely ignoring the Voice's advice out of sheer anger. "You should at least try _every _option before saving them. You'd become a monster otherwise. A _real _monster. To think that you'd do that all for the sake of…" She shook her head. "...It doesn't matter. But I can't believe what I'm hearing. If I ever get back to the future, then...then…"

Meteora stopped as she started hearing something odd, sounding almost like a quiet squeaking noise. A moment later she realized where it was coming from, and that was Old Jenkins, covering his mouth with one of his hands, holding in what looked like laughter.

"What…" Meteora started. "What are _you _laughing about-"

"..._Got you_." Old Jenkins interjected. "I _can't_ believe you fell for that."

"_Oh, god__**dammit-**_"

"Quiet," Meteora whispered. "What are you talking about? What did I "fall for" exactly?"

"My little _empathy_ trick." Old Jenkins crowed. "I suppose I should let you know that I have been bullshitting you on several things for the past few minutes, not just the environment outside. For you see, while the road outside is an illusion, we are not traveling at five hundred miles an hour. In fact, we're not moving at all. This truck is currently at a standstill, and special devices we have on the bottom of it are mimicking vibration movements, tricking you into thinking we are moving."

"What?!" Meteora shrieked. "So first you make me think that we're traveling normally, then you make me think that we're traveling super _fast_, and now you're saying that we're not moving at all! How many more twists do you have up your sleeve?"

"Oh, much more." Old Jenkins said. "Like the fact that the base we went to wasn't a base at all. The soldiers were all real, as well as a few _select _buildings, but the tanks, helicopters, miles and miles of concrete, and basically 99% of the things you saw were nothing more than holograms." He rolled his eyes. "What? Did you really think we'd have the main base that's supposed to protect the Capital a _hundred _miles away from it? Ludicrous. No, the bases like that are in the town themselves. It was just...fake."

"Fake?!" Meteora shouted, who wasn't sure how many more reveals she could handle at this point. "But why? What was the point of that?"

"It was all part of a cleverly designed plan to bring you here." Old Jenkins said. "Or, at least, partly. You see, our original intent with the hologram base was to make you think that no matter what way you went, you couldn't escape because you'd just be shot down. But then you went off and made that outlandish claim that you could blow up the world, so we had to change things up. Luckily, we realized that we could _use_ this to our advantage. So while you weren't looking, I communicated in sign language to one of the nearby guards, who would then become the driver of our truck and take us to a structure designed specially for...things like this."

"...What the faaa…" Meteora started, before running a hand over her brow, which was now coated in sweat. "Okay, but why-"

"To see if you were lying or not." Old Jenkins said. "I didn't believe your claim at first. But then your chest lit up and I realized that it might have to take it seriously. So, I communicated with the whole sign language thing to a few people nearby and explained my plan. The person driving the truck was to take us to..._this _area. He did, and for the past ten minutes, we have been driving in place, creating an illusion. And you believed every second of it. Never once did you glance out the window and think something was wrong before I pointed it out. You thought you had complete control of the situation, when in reality, I did. Just like always." He rambled. "You may be smart Meteora. That on-the-spot plan of blowing up the world wasn't half-bad, especially with that light. But you forgot one thing. Contingency plans. For everything. Which we have, one way or another. We didn't _know _you would do that, but trust...we came prepared just in case you pulled something that would require us to travel down this fake road. And it paid off beautifully. You were completely fooled, and this road perfectly accomplished its purpose."

"I…" Meteora started, almost too shocked for words. "But what was that empathy trick then? What was all that about?"

"Simple. Other than the road, the empathy trick was the most important part of all this. I thought it up before you even finished making all those demands." Old Jenkins said. "You were threatening to destroy the world along with _all _its inhabitants. You were perfectly willing to kill all those people back then. And I wanted to put this to the test. So I made up that little fib about the nuke, and needless to say, my plan worked. You called me a monster for sacrificing all those people, when you were willing to do the same for the entire planet no more than a _half-hour _ago. This alone was proof enough that even if you _had _that ability, you wouldn't _really _use it. A monster such as me...would not even compare to one like yourself, if blowing yourself to smithereens was the final outcome of all this."

Meteora almost slapped herself in the face right there, finally understanding why the Voice had tried to warn her about not speaking any further. Old Jenkins was right. She had fallen directly into his trap. Just when she thought she got away. And now, all she had accomplished was dooming herself even further.

"And...there you have it. Not very short, not very simple, but that is the truth, and nothing can change it now." Old Jenkins said. "All that...all those lies and tricks and that little spell you probably cast to make your chest light up...has led us to this. Your little ploy has been revealed. You lied. You lied about everything, and I think it's safe to assume that you lied about being Eclipsa's _daughter_ as well. You just choose one of the most powerful people in town, likely changed your appearance a little bit to make you look like a cross between a monster and a Mewman, and here we go. Instant protection. And then you learned some secrets by spying on her, just like you spied on _me _during that rally. You've likely been planning this for a long time. What you hoped to achieve, I have no idea, but whatever it was, you can say goodbye to it."

"...A-and?" Meteora sputtered. "So what? So what if I lied? Are you telling me that if you were put into my situation, that you wouldn't have done the same thing? I was just trying to survive! If I hadn't lied like that, you would have killed me!"

"Of course I would have lied. Like you just said, trying to survive." Old Jenkins replied. "However, that doesn't change a thing in the end. Survival or not, you tried to play us for fools, and now you have to pay dearly." He sighed. "Earlier you mentioned the war with the Brine. And I will say this of that war: I learned many things from it. And not just to take even children seriously, but also the most important lesson that I believe I had ever been graced upon me. And that is…" Old Jenkins then whipped out his pistol and made sure it was loaded. "...To take care of a problem _before _it becomes one. And that problem is now you. And if I allow you to continue living, then you will become an even _bigger _problem. Thus, you must die here."

"H-hold on." Meteora stuttered, putting her hands up defensively. "But there's still so much I can tell you! It was a joke, right? You're not _actually _going to kill me this soon? Just for that?"

"Hmmm...yes, I am. No more talk. It was entertaining, for a time, but that time had passed. And while this may all be a little fast-paced, at least by my terms. But another lesson I have learned is that whenever something happens, I should act, not react. So..." Old Jenkins said, before pointing the gun at her head. "...Goodbye, _Meteora."_

And with that, he tightened his finger on the trigger and prepared to pull it.

And Meteora knew she only had one second to react.

So before he could fire the gun, she shot forward and grabbed his left arm, forcing it upwards just as he fired, creating a terrific cracking noise inside the small interior of the truck that caused her ears to start ringing madly. The bullet ricocheted like mad until it wedged itself in the bad window, half in, half out.

And as painful as the throbbing in Meteora's ears was, she knew she didn't have any time to focus on it. Old Jenkins growled at her and pointed the gun to aim at her head again, but this time she grabbed his hand, digging her claws into it to try and dislodge the weapon. His response was to knee her multiple times in the stomach, but no matter how hard or how many times he hit her, she refused to let go of his hand, biting her bottom lip as hard as she could.

But her efforts finally paid off when she managed to get it out of his grip. He dropped the gun and it was sent flying to the floor, with dismal results. It fired by itself as it hit the metal plating and another bullet was sent bouncing off the walls again, only this time it found an actual target. Meteora cried out in pain as the bullet lodged itself in her right knee, creating an intense burning sensation that sent her falling to the ground as her entire leg instantly went numb. Old Jenkins pushed her further away for good measure, and the two stayed where they were for a few seconds, Meteora clutching her knee and groaning while Old Jenkins grimly inspected the damage she had done to his hand.

"You little…" He started. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go. And I only had two bullets in this damn thing. Thought that'd be more than enough for you…" He groaned and then got up, walking towards Meteora with a scowl. "I suppose I can just stomp your head in though. And don't start making excuses about your "parents". When they hear-"

"Idiot…" Meteora moaned, still clutching her knee, which was now bleeding profusely.

"What was that?"

"Idiot." She repeated. "You just made the biggest mistake of your damn life. Eclipsa and Globgor completely believe that I'm their daughter. And not just because I am, but because someone told them that I was coming!" She shouted. "They were informed in a dream of my arrival, and when I arrived that was proof enough for them."

"...Yeah, sure." Old Jenkins said. "If this is true, then why didn't they mention it back at the Temple when I was talking to them after you ran off? If they wanted to convince me that you were Meteora Butterfly, then they're doing a lousy job!"

"Why?! Because you're nosy as hell and would probably stick them in a lab if you caught wind of it!" Meteora yelled. She attempted to push herself up, trying to get in a position where she could stand on her one good foot, but the second she got any debt she Old Jenkins shoved her back down and slammed his foot down on her knee, causing her to let out another cry of pain. "Like...this!" She growled, praying that the bullet hadn't nailed an artery. "Doing whatever you want and hurting people without thinking about the consequences! You would perform dozens of tests on them and maybe even kill and dissect them if it meant that there was a one percent chance that you could find the being that communicated with them! They knew that! Everyone knows that! They only listen to you out of fear!"

"No kidding…" Old Jenkins scoffed, digging his heel deeper into her leg. "How do you think I've kept this much power for this long? _Fear. _Fear and control. The two most powerful forces on this planet. It's how I made good portions of the entire multiverse become terrified of the E.D.F., as well as ensure that nobody ever invades Earth. There's not a single civilization out there that has launched any sort of successful invasion since those Brine fools all those decades ago! And that was only because we refused to do what was necessary. Like this."

"The Brine…" Meteora started. "I know what happened with them. I know about the spy and how they were only a child. But that doesn't mean you have to be a complete jerk to everyone that comes through a portal! Just look at the monsters of Mewni! They're nicer than both the humans and the Mewmans! Most of them just want to live their lives out peacefully!"

"And look at the demons from the Underworld, led by that terrorist Drosid who's trying to kill everyone on the surface." Old Jenkins said. "That right there is proof enough that there will always be enemies from other worlds, even when we're cut off from most of them."

"..."

"..."What?"

"Y-you know about Drosid?" She groaned. "How? The future version wasn't aware he existed at this point in his life. Or at least…" He bit her lip and leaned up against the wall. "He claimed he did…"

"I think you were lied to again…" Old Jenkins said. "That is, if he exists. At this point, I think it's fair to assume that you've been lying about everything, like I said."

"Oh, come on!" Meteora yelled. "Are you seriously-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Meteora was interrupted by a loud and sudden knock on the back door of the van. Both of them turned to look, Old Jenkins getting a look of relief while Meteora's turned back to fear. Because whoever was out there probably...no, almost _certainly _had another gun, and all Old Jenkins had to do at this point was take it from them, turn around, and pull the trigger. With her knee rendering her unable to walk, and magic currently being out of the picture, there was nothing she could do at this point. Old Jenkins was done talking, and had likely only been doing it until an opportunity like _this _presented itself.

She couldn't let this happen. But before Meteora could even start thinking up a plan, Old Jenkins sighed and glared at her.

"Don't try to escape." He said. "Do that, and I'll make your end as quick and painless as possible. Resist, and I can't promise that we won't be forced to incapacitate you _fully _and then finish the job. So just...give up at this point, please." He shook his head and started moving towards the door. "It'll make everything a lot easier to clean up."

Meteora groaned again as he said this, and took her hand away from her knee as she tried to push herself up fully against the wall. Blood poured freely out of the wound again, and she winced upon seeing just how much there was. It might not _kill _her in the end (at least not before Old Jenkins had a chance to), but at this rate, she was definitely going to pass out from blood loss. She looked around frantically for anything that could be used as a tourniquet, knowing that she wouldn't have any chance at stopping her death if she was too weak to even open her eyes. She eventually resorted to ripping off one of her shirt sleeves and tying it around her leg. It didn't stop the bleeding entirely, but it did enough that she wouldn't have to worry about it. At least right now.

Old Jenkins wasn't aware of any of this, instead grabbing the handle to the door and swinging it open. The illusion that was being cast on the glass vanished instantly, and in its place were five soldiers, one of them being the driver, with worried expressions on their faces and with their weapons at the ready.

"Yes?" He asked, in the most benign way possible. "Is there a problem?"

"Um…" One of them started, trying not to look at his bleeding hand wound or Meteora in agony behind him. "Sorry, sir. It's just that we heard a couple of gunshots from the inside of the truck, and although you told us that one was to be expected, you never told us anything about two. So we came here to check if everything was okay. Sir."

"Everything is fine, soldier." Old Jenkins said. "The plan worked, but our subject was a little more...uncooperative than expected." He glanced down at his hand and then back at the soldier. "But I'm going to need some peroxide and bandages for myself. One of you go get that for me."

"I'll do it, sir." One of the soldiers in the back said, and they ran off a second later, as if they were just jumping at the chance to follow orders.

"...I'm also going to need a new firearm." Old Jenkins said. "So give me one of yours so I can finish-"

"SIR, LOOK OUT!" One of them said, pointing behind him, and Old Jenkins whipped around, arms at the ready to block any attack Meteora was making. But by then it was already too late. In the thirty seconds that he had been talking to his underlings, Meteora had managed to get to her one working foot and slowly hopped over to him, waiting until she was only a foot away. And before Old Jenkins could even fully turn around, she had shoved him as hard as he could, sending him flying out the back of the truck and towards the soldiers. The whole group was comically knocked over like a bunch of bowling pins, and before any of them could get up she grabbed the door handles and slammed it close, flipping the small lock after doing so.

"Never turn your back to an opponent!" She screeched, and she began hobbling back towards the front of the truck, where another small window lay that showed a view of the drivers and passengers seat. Outside, Old Jenkins was shouting loudly at the soldiers to get the door open, and several pounding sounds were heard as they attempted to break in.

"Okay! Your plan worked!" Meteora said, flinching away from the door each time something that sounded like a battering ram impacted it. "What the hell do I do now?!"

"_The front window, like I told you."_ The Voice said. "_Punch it out with your monster strength and then drive away as fast as you can. I'm willing to bet they left the keys in, and by the time they realized where you've gone, it'll already be too late."_

"And what about my leg?" Meteora asked. "Regular Jenkins told me that something like this is an injury that could cripple you for life! Especially if we don't get medical attention fast enough! What are we going to do about that?"

"_Healing spell." _The Voice said. "_I'll be able to teach you one that should do the job. And before you ask why I haven't told you before now, it's because it's only to be used for emergencies. It takes...quite the toll."_

"Don't care. As long as I'm not limping for the rest of my life." Meteora said, before reaching the window and rearing her hand back. She slammed her fist into it, knuckles first, causing a small crack to appear. A second later she took her hand away and started jumping around on her one foot like a person possessed, frantically rubbing her now bruised fingers.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" She cursed, hoping that she hadn't broken anything. "Is your plan just to cause _more _pain to me or what?! There's no way I'm going to be able to break that window without snapping my hand in half first!"

"_Would you rather deal with Old Jenkins?" _The Voice asked irritatedly. "_We are already out of time, Meteora. You only need one hand to turn that steering wheel. Break through, even if you have to destroy your whole arm to do it. Now!"_

Meteora grit her teeth at this order, before glancing back at the back of the truck. It was still being pounded on like crazy, but she could hear more people from outside approaching it, and she began to wonder if they were just going to destroy the entire vehicle rather than trying to break in to get her. She gulped and then turned back to the window, punching it again and again with everything she had. Even when her hands made cracking noises as her finger bones snapped, she didn't stop. It was like the voice said. Despite the hellish pain, it was do or die now. Fight or flight. And there was no way she could win a fight with what was waiting for her outside.

"_Yes!" _The Voice exclaimed. "_Just a few more punches and you'll have broken through!"_

"Easy...for...you...to...say…" Meteora growled, shaking one word with each punch. "You're...not...making...yourself...MONOPLEGIC!" She screamed, and with one final blow, the glass shattered into pieces, spraying all across the front of the truck. She didn't waste a second climbing into the window, small shards of glass that had remained cutting her and tearing small holes in her clothes. Once she had gotten her legs through Meteora observed her surroundings, praying that they were in an area that was easy to escape out of.

The structure the truck was contained in looked similar to a car wash, with two openings in the front and back of it. The walls had some odd spiral light devices on them, no doubt the machines that created the illusions. Soldiers were swarming in from both openings, several of them carrying what looked like explosives. As Meteora's worst fears were realized, they also noticed that she had gotten to the front seat, with several of them pointing it out.

"_Okay, time to go!" _The Voice recommended. "_Get in the driver's seat right now, and get us the hell out of here. Old Jenkins did say earlier that all those tanks and stuff from earlier were fake, so I don't think he took into account the fact that you might be able to escape."_

Meteora quickly did as the Voice said, scrambling over the seats and making her way into the driver's seat. However, once she was in she paused, like a deer stuck in headlights.

"_...What are you doing?" _The Voice asked. "_Get us out of here! They're surrounding us!"_

"I...just realized," Meteora said. "I don't know how to drive. I'll probably just crash the truck before I even get out of this building! And I only have one leg to work _two _pedals!"

"_Do you know which is gas and which is break?"_

"Well...yes…"

"_Do you know how to use the steering wheel?"_

"Yes…"

"_THEN GO!" _The Voice shouted.

"Okay, fine!" Meteora yelled, turning the keys in the ignition, and the truck hummed to life a second later. "But I die again because of this, then you're getting an earful in whatever afterlife I go to!"

And with that, Meteora stepped on the gas pedal as hard as she could, and the tires screeched against the ground at the sudden acceleration. All the soldiers in front of her dove out of the way as they realized what was about to happen, and the truck rocketed forward out of the building, leaving Old Jenkins and everyone else in the dust.

"Okay okay okay…" Meteora repeated, looking around to figure out where she was going. It was similar in appearance to the fake military base, only much, _much _smaller. There were a few buildings, one of which looked like offices with a few that looked like ammo depots, but other than a few of those it was mostly empty. The concrete that made up the ground stretched for a couple thousand feet, and in the distance, Meteora could see a small gate surrounding everything, a chain link that looked comically easy to break through.

"There. We can get out through-AH!" She shrieked, as the side view mirror suddenly exploded from a bullet hitting it. Hundreds of pinging sounds were heard as the soldiers rained lead upon the vehicle, but the armor seemed to hold. Meteora swerved in a serpentine formation, trying to make sure that they wouldn't be able to easily hit her tires.

"Now what?" She asked, as the truck rapidly approached the gate. "What the hell do we do after this?!"

"_We go back to the Monster Temple." _The Voice said. "_I predict that we are twenty minutes from town, as initially surmised, and that whole hundred mile thing was a gigantic lie. Of course, the hard part will be lasting twenty minutes on the road. I have no doubt Old Jenkins had already called for air support…"_

"And I don't have my butterfly form. Fantastic." Meteora growled. "Alright. Be honest with me here. What are our chances of escaping out of this alive?"

"_I'd say a little over five percent." _The Voice estimated. "_And that's assuming we even cross the fence first before that."_

"Well, that's comforting."

"_You asked."_

Meteora couldn't argue with this, and instead kept her eyes focused on the "road" in front of her, continuing to swerve the truck left and right as more bullets hit it. Eventually, the front gate came fully into view and she pushed the wheel to the right as far as it could go, drifting along the concrete as she positioned the truck to now be facing directly towards it, resulting in her slamming her head against the window. She only had a split second to regain control of the vehicle, during which she was swearing so furiously that any normal person might have dropped dead just from hearing it.

"_I recommend you put a seatbelt on." _The Voice said. "_If we suddenly stop, it won't help matters if you get sent flying out the windshield."_

"First off, I don't think me hitting that thing would even dent this truck. Second, if I crash I'm dead either way." Meteora pointed out. "But uh…" She mumbled, as they moved closer and closer to the gate, which was much bigger and thicker than she initially thought. "Yeah, maybe I'll put it on." She admitted, and Meteora quickly strapped the leather belt around her chest, bracing for impact. The truck slammed into the chain link and pushed through it with ease, snapping it to the ground and causing Meteora to violently shake up and down as they went over it.

Once they were clear of the fence however, Meteora swerved to the left towards the main road, spotting a sign with the words "Echo Creek: Ten miles" on it. She stepped on the gas and floored it now that they were on a much flatter surface, hoping that it would be easier to control now.

"Okay, we're out!" She said. "Where do we go when we get there? My parents?"

"_Yes. Definitely." _The Voice said. "_They'll protect you. There are dozens of hiding spots in the Temple, and after a __**very **__quick explanation, I am sure they will give you sanctuary there. All we have to do is ask. Heck, I'm sure we don't even have to do that."_

"You really think they'll believe I'm their daughter?" Meteora asked. "Even after Old Jenkins tells them what I said and did?"

"_Of course." _The Voice said. "_This whole escape you're doing is out of self-defense. Same for the blowing up the world claim. You've done nothing wrong that can't be easily justified. And once they see your bleeding leg and hand, they'll be sure to protect you from him._

_And by the way, how are those doing?"_

"Well, I haven't passed out yet, so I guess that's good," Meteora said. "My leg is still numb, same with my knuckles. Both of them are still bleeding, but not enough to kill me. I can only hope they don't get infected...or worse."

"_Good." _The Voice said. "_That bullet almost hit your femoral artery, if I'm seeing things correctly. If that had happened, we'd be dead in a minute. Literally."_

"That's a nice thought…" Meteora said sarcastically. "But you said that I'm going to have to cast a healing spell on this, right? Shouldn't I be casting it right now? Before the wound gets any worse?"

"_You only have one functioning hand at the moment, and you have to use the other to steer this thing." _The Voice said. "_You can try if you want, but I certainly don't recommend it."_

"Damn it…" Meteora cursed, before she started hearing an extremely loud sound that sounded like someone slapping another person in the face a thousand times a second. "What the-?" she said, only to look in the rearview mirror and see one of her worst fears realized. A helicopter was following her, and it looked like it was fully stocked with every type of weapon one to man.

"...Oh crap. Okay, do we have any weapons on this thing?!" She asked frantically. "Because I'm pretty sure this armor isn't going to do much against _that."_

"_I don't think so." _The Voice said casually. "_And even if we did, I don't think you'd be a very good shot. Not to mention the fact that you'd have to drive __**and **__aim at the same time."_

"How can you sound so calm?!" Meteora shouted. "We could die here, _again, _and you're just acting like it's the most boring situation in the entire world!"

"_Would you rather me be screaming at you? Because trust, that's how I feel inside. If you want me too, I can."_

"...It'd certainly be less creepy." Meteora said. "But no. Okay then. I guess I'm just going to avoid-SHIT!" She shrieked, as a large portion of the road blew up right next to her, shrieking bits of molten asphalt and metal all over the truck. Her ears started ringing again at the noise, and she shook her head a few times to get rid of it, with mildly successful results.

"What the hell was that? Did they just fire…?!"

"_It would seem so." _The Voice said. "_Although I'm confused as to how they missed. You're still driving in a straight line after all. I suppose it could be a warning for you to pull over. A show of force I suppose."_

"Why would they want to do that? They already want to kill me, what's the difference between them helping me up a middle and pulling me here so they can shoot me in the head?!"

"_Perhaps they don't want to destroy the truck…"_

"Well, they did a great job of that, with all the bullets they sent it's way earlier!" Meteora yelled. "Okay…" She averted her eyes back to the mirror. "I'm going as fast as I can. I guess the only thing to do is just to swerve at the _exact _right time after they fire a missile. Maybe we can avoid it and minimize damage to ourselves. Then if we get to the Temple, we'll just crash this thing right into the front door so we don't have to be outside at all. Easy as that."

"_Not as easy as it sounds…" _The Voice said. "_Old Jenkins likely knows where you're trying to go. I'm willing to bet that he has already called the base located in the town and told them to surround the Temple. If you want to get in you'll probably have to drive straight through a mob of soldiers. And I don't think your parents will be as eager to protect you if you mow a bunch of people over like that…"_

"..."

"_..."_

"No. They will." Meteora said. "They'll do anything to protect me as you mentioned. Even if it comes to that. Jenkins, our Jenkins, once told me that one of the only times Globgor went on a rage after being de-crystallized was to protect me and Eclipsa. He believes I'm his daughter. He knows it. He'll shield me from Old Jenkins and anyone else that tries to kill me."

"_If you say so." _The Voice said, secretly amused by the sudden-turn around concerning her parent's trust towards this whole station. "_By the way, go left."_

"Left? Wh-"

"_Missile! NOW!" _The Voice screamed, and Meteora didn't waste a second after that, swerving the wheel to the left and just narrowly avoiding another missile, with similar results as the last one. She shrieked at the sight of the now vaporized road, and gripped the wheel so tight that she thought it might break.

"Okay, looks like they've given up on keeping the truck intact!" She said. "Thank level five it's only one helicopter though…"

After this, Meteora looked in the rearview mirror and saw what looked like _dozens _of helicopters approaching the truck, along with a gigantic jet-like vehicle that was three times as wide as the road. A flying fleet of destruction, all of them heading straight for her.

"..."

"_..."_

"Not a word," Meteora warned. "But we're screwed then, right? _Now _there's no way out of this?"

"_We're only_ _two miles away." _The Voice said. "_Just keep trying to avoid their attacks and we could make it through this. Although I am surprised how much firepower there is. Did Old Jenkins have those nearby, just waiting to take off if anything went wrong?"_

"Don't ask me!" Meteora said. "And I don't think so, considering that-"

"_SWERVE!"_

"Wha-FUCK!" Meteora said, as yet _another _explosion impacted the side of the road, just narrowly missing the truck. Her hearing was an optional sense at this point, and so Meteora completely shifted her focus to the mirror and seeing what direction the next missiles were heading in. And then like that third one had been a command given by a superior officer, the rest of Old Jenkin's flying posse let loose with their artillery as well, each one missing the truck by mere inches thanks to Meteora's insanely reckless driving.

"ARE YOU-"

**BOOM**

"FUCKING-"

**BOOM**

"KIDDING-"

**BOOM**

"ME?!" She screeched, as more explosions rattled the inside of the vehicle and her bones. Eventually, the helicopters moved out of the way and the giant jet-like plane moved towards her, a hatch on the bottom of it opening up and revealing what looked like a laser cannon.

"Oh, that bodes poorly." She said. "Voice! What the hell do I do about this?"

"_Same thing you've been doing!" _It replied. "_Look. You can already see the town limits. Once we get there, they'll fire no more missiles for fear of property damage of killing civilians. If you evade this blast, then we should be able to get to the Temple without __**too **__much trouble."_

"I feel like we're going to end up eating those words," Meteora growled, before taking a deep breath. "Okay. Ready yourself then."

And with that, the cannon attached to the bottom of the ship began to emit a low hum, and a large red light started to glow from within it. Meteora gulped SS she saw the two prongs that made up most of it began to spark with electricity, and within a second the hum turned into a screaming whine, and a bolt of electricity shot out from it and headed straight for the truck. Meteora thrust the wheel to the right as hard as she could the second the energy left the cannon, but it was too late. Although she did manage to avoid the worst of it, the lightning struck and obliterated one of the back wheels, causing the truck to lurch to one side as Meteora frantically tried to regain control of the steering.

"Dammitdammitdammit!" She cursed, as sparks flew out of the back of the vehicle as the bottom of it scraped alongside the road. She quickly began losing speed just as she passed the "welcome" sign for Echo Creek, and a moment later the jet-ship and helicopters turned away, lest they smash into the buildings that were coming up on the horizon.

"_Brakes! Brakes!" _The Voice yelled, and Meteora quickly obeyed, taking her one good foot off the gas pedal and slamming it down on the brake one. The three functional wheels screeched loudly as they reversed, with Meteora jamming the wheel left and right insanely fast to avoid the numerous cars and people that were now in her way. Finally, she saw something she couldn't go straight through: a giant crowd of people, protesters it seemed, probably complaining about monsters. And while Meteora was tempted to bowl them all over, she knew she couldn't. So instead she did a hard right and slammed directly into the side of a building, causing her forehead to slam into the steering wheel, and a miniature cloud of dust and masonry to appear as the truck broke through the wall and finally came to a grinding halt.

"Ughhh..." She vocalized, leaning back and rubbing her now bleeding forehead. "What happened? Did we make it? Am I dead again?"

"_Not yet." _The Voice said. "_It seems we've been sidetracked. Quickly, get up and out of the truck. We're going to have to make the rest of the journey to the Temple on foot."_

"Do we have too?" Meteora groaned, the pain from her head currently clouding most coherent thoughts. "I think I'm going to take a nap. My head is _killing _me right now…"

"_...You know what else can kill you?"_

"What?"

"_THE HUNDREDS OF SOLDIERS WHO ARE ON THEIR WAY CONVERGING ON THIS VERY POSITION!" _The Voice yelled, not in the mood for Meteora to start acting delirious. "_Get up before we die!"_

"Ugh...fine." Meteora groaned, unbuckling her seatbelt and kicked the door to her right until it broke off its hinges. A small crowd of people, most of whom were covered in at least three layers of dust, gathered around to see who had so unceremoniously driven a truck, a military one no less, into their shop. To say they were surprised when they saw that it was Meteora was an understatement, and they all moved out of the way as she stumbled past, looking around for the Monster Temple.

"Where is it?" She asked herself. "Have to find it. Have to find it. Have to-" Meteora repeated, before a giant face in the distance carved out of rock caught her eye. Pushing past even more people, she started hop-walking through the crowd, her numb leg still permitting her to only use one.

"_Hurry up…" _The Voice said. "_I know your leg is in bad shape, but please try to go faster. The Temple's still a decent distance away, and-"_

"Please shut up." Meteora requested, as she briefly stopped to rest and lean on a telephone pole. You probably can't feel this, but it's hard to move _at all _when one of your legs refuses to even twitch! I have to hop and drag this thing along with me! Don't tell me to hurry up if you can't even feel what I'm experiencing!"

"_I can, actually." _The Voice said. "_I can feel everything you feel, remember? Way back when? I know. I know you can't feel your leg. But try to go faster. The crowds may buy us some time, but-"_

"THERE! She's over there! Get here!" A voice from behind them yelled, and afterward, several footsteps were heard, followed by what sounded like someone loading a gun.

"Oh, level five dammit!" Meteora exclaimed, turning around to see what it was _this _time. Rapidly approaching her was a contingent of about six soldiers, pushing and motioning for people to get out of the way. After seeing the guns they held, the crowds cleared in an instant, and now nothing was keeping Meteora from being shot beside the soldiers' own consciences.

And herself of course.

"_Do something!" _The Voice shouted.

"I am!" Meteora replied, ducking behind the pole as several bullets impacted it and slowly started chipping away at the wood.

"_Something useful!"_

"What the hell do you want me to do?!" Meteora said, as the soldiers began moving closer. "There's no way I can get anywhere fast enough without having so much lead pumped in me that I'd weigh an extra fifty pounds by the end of it, and I can't fight back with my magic because then the time travel spell will just kill me! I don't see a way out of this one!"

After she said this, Meteora cried out in pain at a sudden burning sensation that popped up on her right arm, and she nervously glanced down and saw that one of the bullets had grazed her, leaving a long, thin, bloody mark that stretched from her elbow to the base of her hand. The bullet itself had gone flying past and hit a car, but Meteora was in too much pain to take this into account.

"DAMN IT!" She cursed, clutching the wound like it was filled with poison that she had to get out. Wood splinters started raining down on top of her as the pole was demolished by the hailstorm of bullets, and it was clear that soon enough she would have no more cover.

"Okay. Okay!" She said, raising her left arm. "Screw the time spell. I'm going to blast these guys with a purple ball spell whether it kills me or not!"

"_Don't!" _The Voice warned. "_You're injured! In several places now! Your body won't be able to intake the stress of __**any **__magic with all that pain and the loss of blood!"_

"They're not even fatal wounds!" Meteora spat. "And do you have any better ideas?"

"_..."_

"Didn't think so," Meteora said, and she painfully got to her one working leg and held her arm up. And for the first time in what felt like forever, she closed her eyes and concentrated, imagining the magic materializing in her hand. Within an instant, a glowing purple orb of energy formed, and she reopened her eyes and saw a sight that she couldn't be more overjoyed to see.

"Oh thank level five, it worked." She gasped.

"_Don't overdo it." _The Voice warmed. "_This is good enough for a momentary distraction. Throw it at them or throw it at some hint near them and then run...hop as fast as you can. The Temple is maybe a minute away. If we're lucky, we can make it."_

"Luck…" Meteora scoffed. "Yeah, because that's something we've had so much of lately."

And with that, Meteora peeked out from behind the pillar and saw the soldiers, still rapidly approaching her and firing. She didn't want to throw the ball right at them, simply because she didn't want to have to kill them, but she knew she had to do something with it. Luckily, she spotted the perfect target right to their left. A stereotypical blue mailbox, which was only a few feet away from. It might give them some nasty burns, but since the spell was rather small, they'd be fine in the long run. Give or take a scar or two.

Then without a second to lose, Meteora stepped halfway out from behind the pillar and reared her arm back, before thrusting it at the mailbox. The soldiers saw what was coming and dove out of the way, and a second later the orb engulfed the blue metal box in a sphere of light. Meteora didn't wait for them to react. She whipped around and prepared herself to start hopping again-

-only to be met with Old Jenkins, standing five feet from her, holding a pistol aimed directly at her chest. He was breathing heavily, like he had just run the entire distance from the base to reach her. For a moment, time almost seemed to freeze. Meteora's eye went wide, while Old Jenkins did the exact opposite, narrowing his own. Neither of them moved.

And then he pulled the trigger.

In an instant, several different things happened to Meteora. She felt something hit her right after Old Jenkins fired the gun, although this time there was no pain. She merely took a step back because of the force, like a ghost had just passed through her body. Every sound except her own breathing faded away, and then she looked down to see a small red dot planted firmly on the right side of her chest.

A dot that was rapidly expanding.

She then looked back up at Old Jenkins, who frowned deeply at her and pulled the trigger again.

And this time she heard it, and the pain returned with all the force of a raging firestorm. In a second Meteora's entire chest was aflame as the second bullet hit her, smashing against one of her ribs and wedging itself an inch from her left lung. Meteora gasped and stumbled backward, smacking up against the pole and leaning faintly against it. Her legs failed her again as she fell to the ground, the combined pain from her chest, arm, and leg now proving too much for her to bear. She gasped again, this time for air, although it didn't seem to work. She felt like she was suffocating, as her wounds spurted out obscene amounts of blood, and Old Jenkins filled her field of vision, one that was quickly turning to blurriness.

"No more conversations." He said, aiming the gun directly at her forehead. "No more tricks. No. More. Magic."

His finger tightened on the trigger, and Meteora tried to reach out for him, but was unable too. A sense of deja-vu hit her as memories of the snowstorm she had died in cake flooding into her mind. Was she really dying again? So soon? What did this even mean? Why was the past constantly trying to kill her?

Was it purposefully attempting to get rid of something that didn't belong?

Unfortunately, that one question that would never be answered, as Old Jenkins pulled the trick and a third and final bullet flew from the barrel…

...only to impact the pole, an inch from her face. Because the last thing Meteora saw before she passed out was her mother wrestling with Old Jenkins, trying to get the gun out of his hand while yelling furiously at him. And then there was her father, twenty stories tall, reaching down for her with a hand the size of a small car.

And then it all faded to black, once again.

But despite the pain, the blood loss, and the precarious situation she was in, Meteora wasn't _too _worried about what was coming next.

Because there was a small part of her that said that she'd survive this, and her parents would never let her out of their sight again.

And now all she had to do...was wait.

Wait and see if this feeling was correct, and discover if a hospital bed was what she was going to wake up to, or another trip to the void that she once visited, dark and cold and alone.

Alone.

A feeling that had once been almost alien to her, with her constant companionship with Mari and Jenkins, but now, it was something that felt more familiar than any emotion.

**End chapter 42**

**A/N: Yeah, it really does seem like the past has something against Meteora being alive. Does it though?**

…

**Maybe. **

**She isn't really supposed to be there. Or maybe she is. Either way, Old Jenkins practically had the whole thing planned out from the start. And if you're wondering how he got to Echo Creek so fast, he was on the ship that fired the laser. That may or may not have landed immediately after Meteora entered the town. But in the end (of this chapter), things are not looking up, as usual. I'd say she should have seen a trick like that coming, but...yeah. She should have.**

**But as always, thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


	43. Chapter 43: Rudish Awakening

**The Tale of Three**

**Chapter 43**

**Rudish Awakening**

"Meteora? Sweetie? Are you awake now?"

"..."

"Meteora?"

"Eclipsa, it's only been a few hours, and the doctors said it could be _days _with the amount of blood that she lost. We're going to have to wait."

"I can't wait any longer! I-"

"Ughhh…". A sudden groan rang out, and Eclipsa and Globgor, who had been wearing the same weary expression for the past five hours, both looked on in shock as Meteora slowly opened her eyes and made a few more moaning sounds as if to announce her awakening to the world. Eclipsa jumped up and went to hug her child before she was even fully conscious, but Globgor quickly held her back, silently reminding her that Meteora was in no condition to be even touched, much less hugged.

And what was Meteora's reaction to all this? Well, the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the bright glow of a fluorescent light shining directly into her face, so she turned away almost immediately to shield herself from it. To her right, she saw a blank wall as well as the side of a hospital bed, and in an instant, she realized where she was. And then just like that, the memories came flying back at her. Old Jenkins tricking her at the base. Getting shot in the kneecap. Her escape attempt. Getting shot _again _in the arm and then twice in the chest. Blacking out, with her parents' faces being the last thing that filled her vision.

All this and more, _right _before the pain hit. In less than a second, an intense burning sensation came over her arm, leg, and chest, like her muscles were on fire. She cried out in agony and shot up, only for _more _pain to strike her. Soon it felt like her entire body was ablaze, and she had no idea how to stop it.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Her father's voice rang out, and she suddenly felt a slight pressure on her forehead that felt like somebody trying to push her down. "Meteora, lay back down, you're in no condition to get up. Geez, I guess those painkillers aren't as effective as the doctors said…"

Meteora, although her vision was still somewhat groggy, obeyed this as long as it meant she'd be in less pain. She allowed herself to fall backward and winced as her head hit a pillow, which felt more like a rock thanks to her apocalypse-fueled dislike of anything comfortable. She remained there for a few seconds, panting like she had just run a marathon, before she finally forced her eyes open fully to get an idea of what surrounded her.

And to say she was surprised by what she saw was an understatement.

She was in a hospital room, as she had suspected, but it was a lot more...roomy than any she had seen. Her parents had definitely paid the best for her. There was a large window to her left, the sun shining in through it and alerting her to the fact that it was still day, and there was a small plate of food on a table to her right. Although it didn't look like it had been made by anyone at the hospital. Judging by the food that was actually of _good_ quality and the plate itself, it was more likely that her parents had brought it from home themselves. She couldn't see what she was dressed in, due to a blanket covering her up to her neck, but she could feel that it wasn't the clothes she was wearing before. She could also feel a leathery tightness around a few areas, the same tightness that had enveloped her ear for weeks after it was shot.

As for her parents themselves…

They were sitting in front of the bed on two plastic chairs, staring at her like they hadn't blinked for the past twenty-four hours. Eclipsa had remnants in her eye of what were clearly tears, while Globgor looked like he had been holding off from crying. They were both dressed the exact same way as earlier, only this time their clothes looked like they had been put on in a hurry.

The three of them stared at each other with wide eyes for a moment, before Meteora broke the silence, her throat aching with each syllable.

"W-what happened?" She asked, lifting the arm that _didn't _feel like it was on fire towards her head to brush some hair out of her face. "How long has it been? Is this another illusion or is this real?"

"Another illusion? What are you…?" Eclipsa started, before sighing and shaking her head. "Oh, Sweetie, what did he do to you?"

"Who...Old Jenkins?" Meteora asked. "I...can you answer my questions first, please."

"Of course," Eclipsa said. "But first, we _need _you to answer one. Just one. Do you...remember what happened? Everything that happened?"

"...Crystal clear." Meteora replied. "My last memory is you guys stopping Old Jenkins from shooting me in the head. Then I blacked out or something...probably from blood loss."

"Oh, thank goodness," Eclipsa exclaimed. "We were worried that Old Jenkins might have done something to you to cause brain damage. The doctors said there was no sign of it, but we didn't want to take any chances with _him."_

"I can understand that," Meteora said, pushing herself up a bit and biting her lip as more aches struck her. "Now prove it to me."

"Prove what to you?" Globgor asked.

"That this isn't an illusion." Meteora iterated. "My last memory may have been of you guys, but I wouldn't put it past Old Jenkins to get me _back. _And he used illusions on me to trick me into seeing things back at his base. Into saying things that caused him to try and kill me. So say something...or do something...that proves that this is you."

"Well…" Eclipsa started, still looking visibly disturbed by the whole "illusion" thing. "...I think I have something. Earlier on, when we were back at the Temple, you mentioned how you're from the future. And I have to say...that I believe you fully as well as any implications that this claim may bring with it."

"..."

"..."

"Okay. I believe it. It's not an illusion." Meteora said.

"What?!" Globgor s

"How long have I been out?" Meteora asked. "How long has it been since that whole mess?"

"Approximately five hours, give or take a few minutes," Eclipsa replied. "During which there's been quite a stir in town. A good deal of people wanted to know why we were saving a teenager that was being shot at by the E.D.F., as well as actively preventing them from hurting you. Things like that...are extremely rare. When they're sent in to take care of a problem, everyone knows not to interfere, no matter how innocent their target may look."

"Yeah, I already got the rundown on that," Meteora said, recalling her earlier conversation with the Voice. "How bad is it then? What's the extent of my injuries? I'm hurting all over, and even though I remember them all...I'd like to know how severe they are."

"Well…" Globgor said nervously, exchanging a worried look with his wife. "It's not good, to be short. You were shot twice in your chest, your right arm was grazed, and your kneecap was also shot. The extent of these injuries...well, they're also bad. Your arm wound is the least problematic. It's going to hurt for a while and leave a nasty scar, but it should heal back just fine. But the other two…"

"That's where all the problems lie." Meteora sighed, knowing that it would come to this but still not being ready for it.

"Exactly." Globgor agreed. "Especially your knee. That's going to take a few months to heal to the point where you'll be able to walk properly again, at least. But...the doctors say it won't heal entirely. They took the bullet out, but even then, it left too much damage in your muscles and bone. It'll hurt whenever you put too much pressure on it, and you'll likely walk with a limp for the rest of your life."

Meteora groaned and turned away from them after hearing this, before shaking her head. "Well, it's a good thing I have magic. The Voice said I should be able to heal my wounds. Hopefully in a better way than those doctors ever could…"

"Wait, really?" Eclipsa asked. "Then what are you waiting for? Pull out your hands out-"

"Mom, may I remind you of how weak I currently am," Meteora said. "Even if my kneecap wasn't a total mess, I don't think I could get on my feet if I wanted to, much less cast a spell."

"...Sorry." Eclipsa said. "It's just that even healing spells aren't perfect at times, and if you wait too long, they might not fully heal your injury. If you put this off for too long a time, you may still be forced to walk with a limp."

"...I don't think I mind." Meteora said, although this was a complete lie; she was just trying to calm her mother down. "I can fly after all. I don't even need legs."

Eclipsa paused and then smiled softly at this, staring at the floor. "I suppose that's true. One day I hope to see that form of yours. I've seen Meteora's...your younger selves butterfly form, but not yours."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll see it one day." Meteora said, even though this was also a total lie. "But enough about that. What about those two bullets Old Jenkins hit me in the chest with? How serious are those?"

"Well, you're incredibly lucky in that regard," Globgor said. "Both of them missed your heart by no more than a centimeter, and the paramedics think that by their placement that Jenkins missed on purpose for...whatever reason. They were able to remove them after a short operation, and while you needed a bit of donor blood, and still need it…" He pointed to an IV stand to Meteora's left, and there she saw that there was a small pouch attached to it filled with blood, along with a tube that was leading into her arm. With how painful the rest of her injuries were, she hadn't even noticed it. "...You should be fine. You'll have to be careful moving around for a bit, so you don't accidentally reopen the wounds, but other than that nothing should happen. Really, your knee is the biggest concern. It took a full hour for that operation to be finished. They tried to take the bullet out while keeping themselves from causing even _more _harm to your joints, but from what I heard...they only did the best they could."

"Figures," Meteora said. "So that makes...four new scars to add to the list. How fun. Can't wait to explain to _my _timelines versions of Jenkins about his soft self almost murdered me. Which honestly, I don't think he'll be that surprised at." She sighed before scowling. "But speaking of which...where is Old Jenkins anyway? I saw you fend him off, mom, but where is he now?"

"He's outside the hospital along with a small group of soldiers." Eclipsa scoffed. "I nearly screamed at him until I couldn't use my voice anymore when I saw what he had done to you. He started spouting explanations about how you threatened to blow up the world and almost ran over a few of his soldiers, but it didn't matter to me. Me and your father knew we had to protect you. This is honestly...the biggest resistance we've ever had against him towards something. I wouldn't be surprised if this permanently severs our relationship."

"If this doesn't, then I don't know what could," Meteora said. "And about the whole blowing up the world thing, that was only an empty threat I made because he was pointing a gun at my head. If I hadn't said it, I'd already be dead. And for the whole running over part...that was an accident, I've never taken any driving lessons, I just had to escape."

"You don't have to explain anything to us, Meteora," Globgor said. "You already proved back at the castle that you were our daughter, so no matter how many times Old Jenkins thinks otherwise or tries to tell us about any horrible things you did, we'll believe you. Especially after how he acted today. I don't think I want to listen to a single word out his mouth ever again."

"Well, that's nice. And convenient..." Meteora said. "Although I still wonder how he turned from _that _into me and Mariposa's foster father. Someone who actually _cares _about us. And I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it's just so shocking. I don't understand how he could make such a transition in his personality." She sighed. "I guess it's just the part of him that secretly wants to take care of something taking hold…"

"Sorry, the what part of him?" Eclipsa asked.

"Not important," Meteora said. "But what's going to happen now? Is he going to try and kill me again?"

"We...don't know," Globgor said. "He said he'd pull his men back until he fully "assessed" the situation, which in his case is just another word for "I'm going to surround this place with soldiers and disguise them as doctors and nurses so I can strike at the enemy without them noticing". And I'm sure you can guess who he sees as the "enemy". And this is also why it's just us in here. Normally, there would also be a doctor when you wake up, but since we can't tell who's a part of the E.D.F and who's not...we can't risk anyone else coming in here in case they try to kill you."

"So I guess leaving is also out of the question," Meteora said. "But what you're saying is...my injuries are healed, but Old Jenkins has this place surrounded and will likely still try to send a soldier in to kill me at any time?"

Both her parents nodded.

"For the love of...who the hell does he think he is?!" Meteora yelled. "You can't just do things like that. I know nobody wants to stand against the E.D.F., but can't the Mayor or someone at least tell him to knock it off and get his soldiers the hell away from this hospital? Like what if I try to fight back? These walls are pretty thin! Those bullets could go flying and hit other patients."

"He'd see it as a necessary sacrifice. And unfortunately...most of the townsfolk would agree now." Eclipsa said.

"Agree _now?" _Meteora asked. "What do you mean?"

Globgor huffed and shifted in his seat. "Meteora, earlier you launched a spell at a group of soldiers that were firing at you. You completely vaporized a mailbox, if I remember correctly. And there were a lot of people _filming _that whole fight with their phones. When they saw you fire at those soldiers and miss, they assumed you were trying to kill them, _and _that you didn't care about collateral damage towards any civilians...so I guess you could say that public opinion hasn't really turned in your favor."

"What...no!" Meteora shouted. "I missed on purpose! I hit the mailbox because I knew that it would incapacitate, but _not kill, _those soldiers and give me time to escape! And there were no "civilians" anywhere near them! I was fully aware of what I was doing, and what I was doing was making sure that no one died!"

"Even so, that's not how the media or anyone else will see it." Globgor sighed. "From their perspective, you arrived in town, crashed a truck into a store and injured a few people, then ran and got shot at by the E.D.F., making you look even _more _suspicious, and then you cast a spell with seemingly no care for anybody surrounding you or the collateral damage it might cause. You have your story, but they have theirs, and that's the one everybody is going to believe." He shook his head and sat up slightly. "And...for some reason, I've been hearing rumors that you're actually an ambassador from the Jaggy kingdom. Don't know what that's all about."

"Oh god…I _do_." Meteora groaned, facepalming with both of her hands. "It was earlier. When I was alone in that room, after the two of you left. I saw Katrina, one of Buff Frog's kids, from outside the window. She yelled out to me and we started talking, and I made up a lie that I was an ambassador sent from the Jaggy kingdom to hide the fact that I was your daughter when she started to recognize me. I guess when she heard what I had done, she told her side of the story to the news crews…"

"Well, that just complicates matters even more," Eclipsa said. "I suppose we should expect an angry letter from the Jaggy King and Queen soon about the bad publicity. Because nowadays, it seems everyone listens to rumors more than actual facts."

"Nothing we can do about it now," Meteora said. "But on a related note to bad publicity, how are people reacting to you two saving me? Because if they think I'm a criminal with no care for public safety, I don't think they're going to be happy with your little rescue."

"_That _is something we don't know," Globgor said. "Strangely, all the news has said that we saved you, but they haven't announced any public reaction to it. Of course, it's still early on, but I would have expected at least _some _statement or question from the public asking why we did that."

"They're probably just wrapping their heads around it," Meteora said, before wincing. "So my face is all over the news now...you don't think anyone recognized me, do you? Katrina almost did, like I mentioned, which is why I made up that lie, but do you think someone else will? Like this world's version of Star and Marco or…" She suddenly stopped dead and gasped, before flopping back on her bed. "...Oh...shit," Meteora swore. "Shit shit shit."

"Again, language, _please, _Meteora." Eclipsa requested. "But what is it? What's wrong?"

"Star and Marco. _They already know_." Meteora said. "I heard about how I was trapped in a dimension called the Neverzone for fifteen years since time works differently there, and those two visited it to come get me and Mariposa. And since the ages match up, both of them being exactly fifteen years, they probably knew exactly who I was when they saw my face on the news!"

"Oh…oh my," Eclipsa said, her eyes darting towards the floor. "Well, we shouldn't be panicking too much at this." She pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and began dialing a number. "I can simply call them and tell them to not tell anyone _else _anything about it. They'll understand. This is a problem that can be easily solved."

"Hopefully…" Meteora mumbled, and by then Eclipsa had already finished punching in the number, and was waiting for it to ring. After taking a brief glance at the two other people next to her, she stood up and stepped out into the hallway for some extra silence, as the beeping of the machines Meteora was on would be a particularly distracting background noise. Once she had left, Meteora and Globgor were left alone, and Globgor arched both his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "Star and Marco may get a little wild at times, but if Eclipsa tells them not to do something, especially concerning something _this_ serious, then they'll listen to her. They'll be worried about you too, I'm betting. Star is always so playful with baby you, so I'm sure she won't be happy to hear that the teenage version was shot. And by Jenkins of all people, because she isn't exactly his biggest fan."

"I don't think this timeline's version of Jenkins has _any _fans," Meteora said, before resting her chin on her hand and staring out the window. "You know, he really cares about us in the future. So many times he's taken a hit for us. So all these bullets wounds...it's not just the physical part of it that's hurting. All that time he spent protecting us, all those scars he's gotten, only for a past version of himself to screw it all up and pump two bullets into my chest like nobody's business. I'd almost find it funny, in an ironic way, if it didn't hurt so damn much."

Globgor nodded and frowned. "I'd say "I get what you mean", but I really can't. For one thing, I never even had parents to begin with. The monster wars in my time made the ones happening a few hundred years later look like child's play. Monster children were born and raised in massive buildings or caves, then thrown into a war the second we could stand on our own two feet and hold a weapon. We had wanted peace with the Mewmans, initially, but after they attacked and it was clear that they weren't going to stop, we did what we had to. We fought back with everything we had, and it worked."

Meteora, although personally unsure how the current part of this story related to her descriptions of the irony of being shot by Old Jenkins, was visibly intrigued nonetheless. She straightened herself up and motioned for Globgor to continue with the story, to which he smiled and did.

"I was one of our top soldiers, even though I hated it." He said. "There were a lot of perks to being able to grow to the size of a skyscraper during a war, although there were plenty of cons as well. For instance, after every battle, my fellow fighters had to take at least twenty arrows out of me. I made an excellent target when I towered above everyone else. But eventually, I became King and led over an army of my own, and I would have become the same heartless, evil generals that my former superiors were, if not for…"

"Let me guess, my mom," Meteora said. "I'm betting you met my mother, fell in love, said "screw this war and screw being monster King", and then a bunch of sappy stuff happened next?"

Globgor laughed loudly, the sound exploding out of him. He took a moment to recover, before he stopped with a nostalgic expression. "Yeah...that's pretty much it. It was like a bad movie, as the humans would say. Our eyes met across the battlefield, and instantly we both knew we were perfect for each other. She was fated to be married to that Shastacan guy, but that didn't stop us. We met in secret ever so often, learning more about each other and sharing our views on the war. And luckily, they aligned with each other."

He then sighed and got a mournful look in his eyes. "Unfortunately, what happened next is where everything went to hell. Most people think that the MHC discovered our love for each other and imprisoned us for it, but that's not what happened. Rather, we went _public_ with it and presented our plan for ending the war. A solution where everyone was happy. But looking back on it, we _really _should have split the plan ceremony and the announcement that we were in love into two separate events, because the _second _we mentioned that we were together, no one cared about the plan. They just cared about seeing us pay for our treachery."

"Yeesh," Meteora said. "So then you and mom were crystallized?"

Globgor nodded. "Yes, although I definitely put up a bit of a fight with the MHC beforehand. We tore our way across the landscape, eventually coming upon the Monster Temple. I tried to hide in it, but they found me and that crystal guy froze me before I could even react. And then...everything went quiet. I had no one to call for. Nothing to breathe. Nothing to see. It was like…" He paused and searched for the right words. "...Like an endless nightmare. I couldn't do anything except be aware of the fact that I was trapped, and that there was nothing I could do about it. And that continued for three hundred years. If your mom hadn't shown up...I might have gone insane."

"..."

"..."

"Ah, sorry, this is getting too depressing." He chuckled. "Do you have any more questions? Anything you want to know? Because believe me, I have stories for _weeks."_

"Um, yeah, actually…" Meteora said, knowing that she was going to regret asking this next question but unable to stop herself. "When did _I _come into the picture? Because you obviously...had me before you got crystallized, so was I with you when you made that announcement, or did the MHC find me later, or…?"

"Oh…" Globgor said, looking away from her. "That's a bit of a mess, to be honest. You were...unexpected to us. When your mother and I found out she was pregnant, we thought that maybe it was some illusion cast by an enemy who had discovered our marriage, trying to drive us apart with internal conflict. Neither of us had even _known _I could get her pregnant, so we hadn't worried much about it before, but now that she was…" He took a deep breath and looked back at Meteora. "We decided that we had to do our best to be your parents. If she really was going to have a baby, we'd get married someday and raise that child together. If it was an illusion, we weren't going to let that tear us apart, and simply find the spell caster and punish them after they realized that whatever they cast wasn't working on us. We had it all planned out. Down to the last detail."

"So what happened next?" Meteora asked. "The MHC found me?"

"Yeah," Globgor said. "I assume, at least. I was crystallized trying to get to you back at the Temple, so I didn't even get to see you one last time before being locked away. While I was in there, I had no idea if you were alive or dead, until your mother came to visit me with a spell that allowed her to talk to me, even in the crystal."

"Really?" Meteora asked. "That's a thing?"

"Mm-hm. Quite useful actually." Globgor said. "I'm sure Rhombulus could have used it to interrogate his prisoners after crystallization to see if they were guilty or not instead of just sealing them away from the world and forgetting about them forever. But thinking was...not his strong suit. But _YOU_…"

"Me?"

"Yes, you!" Globgor exclaimed. "I was shocked by what I heard when your mother told me what happened. And a little disturbed, to be honest. Becoming the head of a school for Wayward Princesses, ruling with an iron fist, apparently stealing people's life forces to keep yourself alive…" He said, his voice drifting off at the last part.

"Oh...yeah, I heard that I was a pretty bad person," Meteora said sheepishly. "And had a particular hatred for Marco. Makes sense, after hearing what he did to me. Although I'm more confused as to why baby me hasn't let it go, considering that she shouldn't have any memories of her past life. I have dreams from time to time, but even if she had those, she wouldn't be able to understand them...right?"

"Don't ask me," Globgor said. "But whatever the reason, she...you...both of you remember that Marco did something bad, and so you hate him. I mean...you _do _hate him, right? I feel like you mentioned it before, but I just want to make sure that-"

"Oh yeah, I totally do," Meteora said. "I saw him in a memory once, and I just wanted to punch him in the face. I honestly don't think it has anything to do with memories. I think it's just that I'd have an unfettering hatred for him no matter what. Sort of like a phobia. You can't really control it, only go with it."

"That's...an interesting way of putting it," Globgor said. "But anyway, that's the end of my story. I'm sure you already know what happened next. Even if you don't remember all the times Eclipsa told them to you as a baby, I'm sure your version of Jenkins did the same just as well."

"Yeah. Totally. Tons of stories, day in and day out when we were younger. I mean, other than training to survive, there was really nothing else to _do_ besides wandering around mostly aimlessly." Meteora explained. "Oddly enough, he didn't tell us one of the more important stories, about how the world was destroyed by Seth, until only a month or so ago. If I had teleported back to the past any earlier than that, not even a quarter of a year ago, I'd have no answer for how the end of the world came to be. Which would probably make me a little harder to believe. But…" She shrugged. "...I guess he was just waiting for the right moment. Until we were ready enough."

"Hold on," Globgor said. "So he taught you to kill people when you were still toddlers, yet he didn't tell you a _story _about how the end of the world happened because he thought you weren't ready? How does that match up at all?"

"I…" Meteora started, before stopping short. That...actually made sense. Why _had _he kept that from them after all he had taught? Her father was correct after all. It was just a story. Compared to the gallons of blood she had spiked over the years, something like that shouldn't have even made them blink an eye.

Except...it did.

Meteora's mind flashed back to that night, all those weeks ago, when Jenkins told them the story as they chowed down on a dead lizard. For some reason, some aspects of the story shocked them greater than most things had in years. Why? Was it because they had waited so long for that moment, that they purposefully made themselves surprised at how mundane it was compared to everything else? Or were they actually surprised, simply not expecting some of the more crazy parts, like the Seth clone army or the prison attack?

Or maybe...was it because they _forced _themselves to be surprised, somehow? They had been waiting for this story for their entire lives after all. They wouldn't want it to be disappointing. And when it was and they saw that it was rather mundane compared to the rest of the horrors that the Wasteland held, did they-

'No, that's stupid.' Meteora thought, shaking her head. 'I think we were just shocked because we hadn't been expecting it. We knew nukes had been the cause, thanks to all the radiation, but I guess we just expected a war and not...that.' She sighed and frowned, something that Meteora (and everyone else, really) had been doing too much of nowadays. 'Maybe. Probably. But as for why he waited to show us…'

"I have no idea," Meteora said. "I guess he had his own reasons. If he didn't think we were ready, maybe we weren't ready. But in the end, it doesn't matter. He told us, we know, and there's no point in discussing it further unless we want to confuse ourselves."

"Hmm." Globgor hummed. "If you say so. But...do you really think that's what destroyed the world?"

"What do you mean?" Meteora asked. "Are you saying he _lied _to us? The radiation is all there. I don't think he would pick us up and carry us out of some areas if it wasn't. Doing that made himself vulnerable, and that was one thing he only allowed him to be in the most extreme of situations."

"Well, it's just…" Globgor started. "It all sounds a little hard to believe. A giant monster attacking the prison and _no one _seeing it leave? Only one survivor? And all the cameras were destroyed? That doesn't even make sense. The E.D.F has hundreds of thermal tracking and all sorts of other devices hanging around in satellites in orbit. Even if everyone there died, those satellites should have picked it up long before it even reached the prison. And as for it leaving...that shouldn't have been possible. Those things could have tracked halfway across the planet, even if it went underground."

"I…" Meteora said, only to pause and realize that her father was right. If those things existed, why _hadn't _they tracked it? Did it send out some sort of pulse to deactivate all the devices, or…nothing else, because Meteora suddenly recalled another part of that story, one that could explain away Globgor's criticisms.

"I think I might have an explanation for that," Meteora said. "Jenkins told me that the one soldier who survived told _him _that the monster was sorta smoke-like, as if it was made of a cloud or something. Maybe it came in, formed itself, smashed the prison to hell, and...turned back into smoke? Or something? It could work. I've seen monsters in the future pull off some pretty crazy stuff even without magic. And who knows? Maybe it wasn't even a "monster". Magic has been proven to still exist. Maybe one of Seth's followers opened a portal and summoned up some eldritch being from it to do his bidding."

"I've had an experience with an "eldritch being summoned from a portal" before, and I can tell you, they don't follow _anyone's _orders without a sacrifice. And a particularly large one at that." Globgor said. "And if Seth somehow summoned a _literal _Lovecraft-esque eldritch being from another dimension, then Jenkins would know with whatever crazy sensors he had at the E.D.F. Headquarters, and then he'd tell us. I don't think it was that."

"What's Lovecraft?" Meteora asked, who had never even heard of the author, much less the mythos. "Is that some weird adjective?"

"Um...no," Globgor replied. "But the point is that Seth couldn't summon a creature like that without Jenkins knowing full well about it _hours _before the prison break. The energies needed to open a portal like that _alone _could wipe the surface of a planet from existence. I don't think that's what happened."

"Well, maybe it was some other monster," Meteora suggested. "Or...nothing at all. As in, not a monster, but something else. The one survivor did have brain damage. The story he told could have been a complete lie, fabricated by his brain going haywire. That would explain your whole "not making sense" part, and the fact that the monster was apparently made of smoke _and_ that he couldn't describe it any further than that."

"What? Brain damage? I didn't know that." Globgor said. "Well, then it was almost _definitely_ a lie. Although I'm not sure what else could have destroyed that prison. Just getting close to it would require thousands and thousands of heavily armed troops."

"Who knows, maybe it was a bunch of rogue E.D.F. soldiers or something. Ones that didn't like how things were for whatever reason and wanted to like Seth. They never smashed the prison from the outside, they infiltrated it and blew it up from the inside to make it _look _like it had been smashed. Then they used some weird tech that they probably whipped up the day before, gave that guy some false memories, and voila. Perfect plan."

"You make a few good points, but there are ways to detect if the hole in something was made by impact from either the inside or outside. Especially explosions." Globgor pointed out. "And a machine that plants false memories, that sounds like something-" He paused and let the idea sink in for a moment, before his head drooped and his eyes narrowed. "...Nevermind. It's one the E.D.F. would _absolutely_ create."

"Of course," Meteora said. "Living with Jenkins for fifteen years, he's told us all sorts of juicy secrets on what his scientists were working on at one point or another. And I have to say, it...it's pretty shocking, even for them. I don't know what half of the stuff he described would even _be _for, besides creating more and more elaborate ways of killing people. Seriously. Every other word when it came to him talking about those inventions was either death, or kill, or die, or war, or enemy...you get the idea."

"Every _other _word?" Globgor asked. "I'm surprised it's not all of them. But I think we've talked enough about that giant monster for now. I think that's a mystery that could go unsolved for now. Until, of course, the actual event that it was reported to _be _at happens in a few days, at most…"

"...Oh, my level five, I can't believe I almost forgot about that! And we're literally talking about. Right now!" Meteora exclaimed. "That _is _going to happen in just a few days...but if it's internal sabotage, then those guns will all be pointing in the wrong direction. They would be left helpless!"

"No, even if they're "pointed in the wrong direction", the extra security is good," Globgor said. "No prisoner can escape now. Not with that firepower preventing them from doing so. All those tanks and soldiers and guns...all they have to do is turn around and send a tidal wave of everything they've got directly at the prison. There'll be a hole in it the size of one an _actual _giant monster would create."

"..."

"What is it?"

"...Nothing." Meteora said. "Just...a stray thought. But fine. Maybe it will all turn out in the end. I suppose we'll find out soon enough. That is, of course, if Old Jenkins _even put them there in the fucking first place!" _She shouted, startling Globgor. "Which I sincerely _doubt, _considering he doesn't believe my story about being from the future! He probably thinks my prison break story is nothing but a ruse to get most of the E.D.F.'s forces focused on something else while I try to do something stereotypically evil!" She facepalmed and flopped back on the bed. "Just like the fact that the prison will be attacked in a few days, I can't believe I forgot that he doesn't think I am who I say I am. So why would he bother preparing for something that in his eyes, won't happen?" Meteora sighed and bit her lip. "It's going to be a massacre. One survivor with brain damage all over again, if not even that."

"..."

"..."

"...Shit." Globgor muttered, shocking Meteora, who wasn't sure if her father even knew any swears, much less had the capacity to actually say them. "That is a bit of a problem, isn't it?"

"Now you sound like mom," Meteora commented. "And yes, it most definitely is. And worst, the attack could happen at any time, as long as it's late afternoon or...later. So we only have a few days to go from Old Jenkins attempting to kill me, to getting him to believe everything I said and mobilizing the largest group the E.D.F. has ever created and placing them both inside _and _outside the prison to prevent the end of the world. And in the meantime, I also have to find a way back to the future without using too much magic so I don't die beforehand, _all _while trying to do that as quickly as possible so I _have _enough magic in the first place so that it definitely doesn't kill me when I use the spell." Meteora paused and went over what she just said, wanting to make sure it made sense. "Yeah. I think that's about it. All so I don't die a horrible and slow death by pure exhaustion."

"I think convincing Jenkins will be the easy part," Globgor stated. "Based on what I've heard, the only reason he attacked you is because you said a few wrong things at the wrong times and he felt forced to act. I'm not sure exactly _what _you said, other than some off-handed mention on how you claimed you would destroy the world, but you already provided us with an explanation for that." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So what _did _you say that kicked things off?"

"Something stupid," Meteora said, starting her story off by being as vague as possible. "So a while ago, while I was back in the future, I looked through the Voice's memories, and again, I'll explain later, but what you need to know is that I saw a memory of Old Jenkins at a protest. One that I recently learned took place only a few days ago in _this _timeline."

"Oh...that one," Globgor said. "Okay, I know what you're talking about. I'm honestly grateful he stepped in before it escalated. There was maybe about a minute left of shouting between each side before it looked like they might come to blows. And with that many people...well, I'm sure more than a few would have been sent to the morgue rather than the hospital."

"Hm." Meteora hummed, having nothing to say about that before continuing. "Well, I saw the part where he broke it up. By firing an assault rifle into the air. Even weeks later, I still remember that memory perfectly. Because before now, it was the _only _memory I had of how he was like before. I only had stories to base him off before that. But a memory...well, I replayed it in my head a lot, even if it wasn't a very pleasant one."

"And I'm guessing that you told Old Jenkins about this memory?" Globgor presumed. "Or made some sort of off-handed mentioned and he thought that you had been spying on us for days?"

"Something else entirely, actually," Meteora said. "We talked a bit back at his base, and it eventually reached the point where I claimed that I knew him well, and he asked to prove it. So I said I'd do an impersonation of what _he _would do if there was a protest, and I kinda just said and described exactly what he did in that memory." She shook her head and turned away from her father. "And that was when I had a hundred guns pointed towards me and learned that it was only a few days ago. Bye-bye, any hope of making a good first impression."

"Talk about bad timing," Globgor said, and Meteora was unsure if he was trying to be funny or not. "But why did you do that? I mean, weren't you worried that he would remember the protest in case the events you were describing already happened?"

"I didn't think he'd have such a reaction." Meteora, her entire body slouching. "And I was wrong, as usual. This is where the whole "destroy the world" came into play. I just made up that lie so he would stop pointing all those weapons at me, and demanded that he take me home. And after _that…" _She shook her head and groaned, feeling like these events had taken place weeks ago instead of literal _hours._ "...He tricked me into revealing I couldn't blow up everything with an illusion machine, I was forced to flee, crashed the truck, got shot...and you know the rest."

"I'm going to be perfectly honest with you here," Globgor said. "I think that was a mix of both your faults. Jenkins for reacting at something that could have been a complete coincidence, and you for goading him with the description of the protest. I may be your father, but that doesn't mean I'm _not_ going to point when one of your ideas was a..._bad_ one."

"You were about to stay stupid instead of bad, weren't you?" Meteora asked, instantly assuming the worst from his small pause.

"...Yes." Globgor admitted. "But it was. What were you planning to get out of that, exactly? Just to see a confused look on his face? All for the satisfaction?"

"Would you be surprised if I said yes?"

"Not really," Globgor replied. "I mean, a little, because I don't feel like you're the kind of person to try and pull pranks or tricks like that. You're a lot more serious and nervous than I would have ever expected my daughter to be."

"Growing up in the apocalypse will do that to you," Meteora said. "But I only did it because he was annoying me. He slapped a mask over my mouth on the drive over, and I had to breathe through my nose the whole time. Seriously. That thing was air-tight."

"He put a restraining mask on you?" Globgor asked, suddenly paying _much _more attention. "Seriously?"

"Oh, you've heard of it? Yeah, he put a "restraining mask" on me. Completely black and featureless." Meteora confirmed. "Did it so that I couldn't try and cast any magic spells. And he kept it in me until he wanted to hear me talk, which was a totally different attitude than the one he had at first. But the weird part was that when he went to remove it, the thing just snapped right off like it was a piece of cloth. I don't know if that could have happened the whole time, or...or...are you okay?"

The reasoning for this question was obvious to anyone who was in the room at the time, because then they would have caught a look at Globgor's face. He looked ready to explode with anger, so much anger that Meteora actually leaned away from him in fear, praying to whoever was listening that it wasn't directed at _her _for whatever reason. And a moment later, Globgor slowly opened his mouth, like he was trying to say something hit was unable to.

"He...he…" The Monster King started, much to Meteora's confusion.

"He what?" Meteora asked. "Dad, are you okay? What are you trying to say?"

"He put...did he really put one of those masks on you?" Globgor finally choked out, looking like he was about to scream in rage.

"Yes…" Meteora said nervously. "Why? Is there something bad about them-"

"Yes, there _definitely _is!" Globgor replied, running both his hands over his head. "The mask was black? And easily clicked right off?"

"Pretty much," Meteora said. "I assume it was somehow linked to his fingerprints or something, because if it were him, I wouldn't take such a risk putting a mask on me that could be so easily removed. Unless...okay, can you just tell me what's going on? Please? Because you're actually scaring me. Did this mask secretly inject some kind of poison or read my mind or anything that I don't know about yet?"

"No. None of that." Globgor said. "But if your descriptions are true, then the mask he put on was an updated version of a monster _death mask _originally created by Mewmans."

"..."

"..."

"_Excusemewhat?" _Meteora said quickly, her mouth suddenly turning into a terrified grin. "What...what is, uh, _that?"_

"...During the monster wars three hundred years ago, captured monsters would be forced to put on completely black masks that covered their mouths." Globgor said, after a moment of hesitation. "The mask would be briefly taken off, with the Mewmans making it look like an extremely tedious and complicated process. They would then be interrogated, with lies fed to them that if they told them everything they wanted to know, they would be set free. But whether they gave up any secrets or not, the result would be the same." He then took a deep breath as another dark look crossed his face. "They would put the mask back on and be tortured to death by fire. However, just before they died, the mask would be casually taken off with one hand, revealing how easily it could have been removed all along. I think the Mewmans did it as a show of force, trying to show us how much power they had over their prisoners to the point where they didn't even _dare _to try and remove the mask, even though it could be taken off by them at any time."

"Okay…" Meteora said, thoroughly disturbed by the whole story. "But why did he put that mask on _me? _Was he planning to kill me afterwards no matter what?"

"I don't know…" Globgor said, growled really. "Maybe he thought it was funny. Maybe he _was _planning to do that. Maybe he thought it was a sick joke, although I suppose that's the same as the first option. But whatever the case, he is _not _going to get away with this." He scoffed. "If I saw one of those things, I'd probably have nightmares for the next _week _from the PTSD. That's how terrifying they became to monster-kind. To the point where the Mewmans air-dropped them using magic over monster settlements as a form of psychological torture. And the amount of masks they dropped was always the same as the number of monsters in the settlement. They even made smaller ones for children! Like they were saying, "you're next"! It was a…" Globgor sighed and bit one of his nails, the claw making a soft cracking sound as it fell victim to his teeth. "...horrible time in Mewni's history. For _all _of us."

"Oh, my level five..." Meteora gasped. "_That's _what the mask was for? But he said he was just using it to make sure I couldn't cast any spells! And that actually makes sense! I can't do anything if I'm not able to speak!"

"Maybe it was for both. But I have no doubt that the part where it was easily taken off was him purposefully referencing the death masks." Globgor said, before groaning. "What the mask made of, by the way? Was it made of wood? Because if it was, then he may have gotten his hands on a _real-"_

"No, it was made of this weird plastic material," Meteora replied. "But...what does this mean then? Do you think he was _actually _going to kill me after interrogating me? What did he think would even happen afterwards? That you two would just be fine with it?"

"If he was planning on doing that, then I'm sure he would have whipped up some fake footage of you attacking the base or something to throw us off," Globgor said. "And then get some of his soldiers to injure himself to make it look even _more _real."

"...Great. Just great." Meteora said sarcastically. "You know, at this rate, I'm going to-"

"Alright, we're done!" A sudden cheerful voice said, and they both turned to see Eclipsa entering the room, shoving her phone in her pocket. "Good news. I called Star and Marco, and while they _do _say that they recognized Meteora, they haven't told anyone. And they've agreed to not tell anyone else either. We're safe in that regard. All we have to worry about now is-"

"We need to have a talk with him. _Right now." _Globgor interjected, standing up from his chair and shoving it behind him.

"A talk? With who?" Eclipsa asked.

"Jenkins," Globgor said. "If my assumptions are correct, that bastard out something similar to a _monster death mask _on Meteora as she traveled to that base, under the guise of using it as a way to make sure she couldn't speak. You and I are going to march right down to that lobby, slam him into a wall, and demand to know why he did that."

"..."

"..."

"Okay, mom, the death masks are apparently-"

"He did _what?!" _Eclipsa shrieked, fully sidetracking Meteora's assumption that her mother didn't tinker anything about the death masks. "Are…are you telling me the truth, Globgor?" She then glanced towards Meteora, who now felt very small with both of her parents looking like they were ready to rip someone's head off. "Meteora...is this true? Did he put one of those foul things on you?"

Meteora gulped before answering, knowing that she had to choose her words very carefully before something even _worse _happened. "Uh...okay, before we jump to conclusions, dad, just because it was black and came off really easy _doesn't _mean it was one of those death masks! He may have just been trying to silence me like I said! How would he even know about the masks in the first place?"

"Because we told him about them," Globgor said. "When he asked us to inform him about the events of the monster wars hundreds of years ago, we mentioned the masks and their purpose. And he seemed to be _very_ interested in them when we mentioned them! But I can't believe that he would use that knowledge _against _us! What was he thinking?! Is he-"

"Okay, EVERYBODY STOP!" Meteora shouted, before gasping and clutching her chest in pain as she kneeled over. The second after the air had left her lungs it almost felt like her bullet wounds had reopened, and instantly both her parents were on top of her once they heard that she was now wheezing instead of breathing normally.

"Meteora! Are you-"

"Fine...fine…" She coughed, not wanting them to be terrified _and _pissed off at the same time. "Just...listen." Meteora groaned, her voice averaging a pained whisper. "Please don't _you _two freak out all of a sudden. I don't need that right now. You guys are the only ones I have now, and the last thing I need is for you to run off while I'm like _this, _vulnerable and wounded, to go beat up Old Jenkins based on an assumption."

"But, Meteora…" Eclipsa started. "If what you said is true, then this could have _serious _consequences. He wasn't just making a note on how he might have meant to kill you after interrogating you. He was making a _mockery _of monster history, paying _great _disrespect to all the monsters who died with those things being hung an inch from their faces. It was outlawed hundreds of years ago, right after the war ended, and for him to do this…" She paused and looked away, sucking in a breath. "...The consequences could be severe. Not just for _him, _but for everyone. This could…this could ruin _everything_. If our relationship with the E.D.F. crumbles, Meteora, then so does Earthni. It is the only thing keeping the other Earth countries from destroying us out of fear. If Jenkins abandons us, then we're good as dead."

"Then...maybe you should follow my advice and _not _freak out," Meteora said. "But I have a question. What does Old Jenkins gain or lose from our allegiance with him breaking? Why would he care?"

"Almost nothing," Eclipsa said. "We've told him every single bit of information that he's wanted to know, to the point where he's stopped asking because there's nothing left for him and then E.D.F. to learn. And our deaths will only strengthen his relationship with the other world leaders. At this point, he's _gaining _more than he's losing if he abandons us. I believe the only reason he hasn't already is because he doesn't want us to get hurt."

"So you're saying he cares about you?" Meteora asked. "...Okay, I can see that happening. There must be a reason my timelines version of Jenkins saved me and Mariposa after all, instead of just leaving us to die of exposure."

"Yes, but that care might run out," Globgor said. "He was only ever "acquittanced" with six people. Me, your mother, Star, Moon, Marco, and sometimes River. They were-"

"The only ones he respected," Meteora said. "The only ones that he didn't flat out hate. I know it all. If I remember correctly, he liked none of the Royals, believing them all to be stuck-up and stuff."

"That is extremely accurate," Eclipsa admitted. "Although recently, I think that respect for us has dwindled. His respect for Moon started running out when she betrayed us all to Mina, he got annoyed at Star and Marco for how often they were dating instead of taking care of the problems of Earthni, River was just...well, it's ambiguous if he even had respect for River in the first place, but if he did it's definitely less now. Mostly because of an incident with a few hunters in the woods…"

"Okay, and what about you two?" Meteora asked. "What caused his respect for you to wane?"

"Nothing yet, actually, but this current crisis might just do it. In fact, it almost certainly will." Eclipsa said. "We six have defied him before, and he allowed it because of the power we had. Well, except for Star and Marco. Whenever they did something he didn't like, he always made sure to point it out. He was ruthless on those two when they quote on quote "acted like a bunch of mongoloids"."

"I don't know what that word means, but it sounds insulting," Meteora said.

"Mm." Eclipsa hummed, nodding her head. "But for the rest of us, he usually let us do whatever we wanted as long as it wasn't an open rebellion or attack. But as you know, that's changed now. I literally wrestled a gun from his grip and Globgor threatened to step on some of his soldiers when they tried to approach you. It was a bit extreme, but we had to make sure that they didn't hurt you any further. We did, in the end, but it came at a cost. Now we don't know what's going to happen or what this even means for us. Jenkins said he'd talk to us later in the most passive-aggressive tone I've ever heard him use. Which could mean a lot of things, all of them bad."

"So then...the only thing left to do now is _wait?" _Meteora asked. "There's nothing else we can do?"

"Well, you did say that we shouldn't attack him...so yes and no," Globgor said. "We shouldn't go and declare war on Jenkins for attacking you, but that doesn't mean we're going to sit here and do nothing either. And I _still _need to have a talk with him about those…" He growled and his gaze darkened so much that he looked like a horror movie villain, and for a moment Meteora realized why everyone had been so terrified of him hundreds of years ago. "...death masks. I'm not letting that go. Even if he denies it."

"Let it go for now," Meteora said. "We have enough on our plate, and if you go full-on monster mode and try to tackle him, then...well, you'll just be shot on sight, so I guess we'll just get the full buffet."

"_Still quite fond of that phrase, are you?"_

"Not now, you-" Meteora started, before sighing. She looked towards her parents and stuck her index finger up. "Give me a second, I need to talk to someone."

"...Is it that "Voice" you keep referring to?" Eclipsa asked.

"Yup," Meteora said. "Okay, what the hell do we do?"

"_We remain here, for one thing, and once we have enough energy we heal our knee as best we can." _The Voice explained. "_And then hopefully our other injuries as well. But if the others don't turn life-threatening, then I recommend only mending the knee. As odd as it may sound, the rest are optional for now. Even the chest shots."_

"Yeah, I got that much," Meteora said. "And after that?"

"_I really think you should just leave this one to your parents." _The Voice said. "_We barely got out alive with that last one, and I don't think we're going to have as much if we get in a similarly precarious situation. And this time, there likely won't be an Ery to bring us back to life. You'll be dead. For __**good **__this time."_

"At this rate, I think the past _wants _me dead…" Meteora mumbled. "Okay. That makes sense. I do agree that maybe we should take the backseat on this one. We're out of our element. But is there..._anything _at all we can do?"

"_Honestly? Maybe." _The Voice said. "_We will be sleeping a lot in the coming days if we stay in the hospital, given that there will be nothing else to do, so we can have lots of time to communicate in the Mindscape. Look at memories. Teach you new spells. All that."_

"Fun," Meteora said. "Anything else?"

"_Not at the moment, no." _The Voice said. "_We should, in our way, keep our head down for the moment and let others handle this. Like you said, we're out of our element. I'm still trying to figure too many things out at once, and you've been shot four times. We should let Eclipsa and Globgor handle, sit back, and wait for all this to blow over."_

"Is that a reference to something?"

"_Yes. But I'm not going to explain it."_

"Fine." Meteora said, before "turning" back to her parents. "Okay. It's official. I'm going to let you guys handle this one. I think I've gotten into too much trouble on my own, and it'd be best if you took care of anything from now on."

"Oh, Sweetie, none of this is your fault...mostly," Eclipsa said. "You've just been thrust into the past, in an unfamiliar environment. You don't have to take any blame for what you did. You've just been trying to survive. It's what you're used to, after all."

"True…" Meteora said, before leaning back and briefly humming to herself. "Are you going to visit Old Jenkins right now or later? Because if later, then I'm assuming we have a lot of free time on our hands, and it'd be a perfect opportunity to explain a bunch of stuff that's going on in the future that I haven't gotten to yet, _like_ the Voice."

"Actually, we can't do that," Globgor said. "As much as I'd like to hear more concerning that topic, Old Jenkins...err, Jenkins is not our only problem. Like we told you, the news caught everything, and they are aware that we are in here. So we have to go explain to them why we saved you before they start spreading even _more _rumors. It's already been five hours, so I can't even imagine what kind of tabloid garbage they've already whipped up."

"Oh." Meteora said, who knew nothing of the "news" or "tabloids", but just decided to go along with it. "Well, I think at least one of you should stay behind, in case Jenkins sends someone to try and bump me off."

"That's...a good idea. I'll stay here with Meteora and protect her, unless, Globgor, you don't think you can handle those news hacks by yourself?" Eclipsa asked.

"I can handle them just fine," Globgor said, getting up from his chair and cracking his knuckles. He walked over to the door and took one last look at them before leaving. "I know it's going to be weird for me saying this, because _you're _the one staying here, but...be careful. If someone comes along, even if they're a doctor, be on your guard and assume the worst. Don't let them inject anything into you without multiple people confirming it, Meteora, even if they say it's painkillers or a miracle cure or whatever. Just...please be careful. Okay?"

"Okay," Meteora said. "See you, dad."

"See you, Meteora," Globgor said, and with that he left the room, leaving Eclipsa and Meteora by themselves. Eclipsa paused for a second before turning to her daughter and scooting her chair closer, before a smile spread across her face.

"Everything you told your father that I was absent for...you don't mind telling it again, so you?" She asked sheepishly.

"No. No, I really don't." Meteora said, and then, without skipping a beat, she began reciting the whole story from the beginning just like she had done with Globgor. She made sure to answer every single one of her mother's questions with zero hesitation, trying to make the most of their time together.

Because she knew that if their assumptions were correct, if Old Jenkins truly tried to kill her again, then this time her parents might not be able to stop him.

So she wanted to spend every available second with them if that happened, because the Voice was right after all.

If she died again, there was almost no doubt that she wouldn't be coming back.

**End Chapter 43**

**A/N: So this chapter was shorter than most recent ones, but I still think it is important nonetheless. We got a few bits of information, the monster death masks, the fact that Meteora will likely be "sitting out" the next few major events, as well as a few hints in the return of the Mindscape and all the shenanigans with memories and magic it brings. This arc has gone on for **_**way **_**longer than what I expected it to be, but I do have an ending in sight for it. And maybe someone has predicted what will happen, maybe they haven't. But either way, it's sure to be fun.**

**But as always, thank you for reading, and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**


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